Book One: Outbreak Chronicles
by The Author Revolutionary
Summary: Remake of World of the Dead. This world is not what it used to be. Three years have passed since the beginning. We have been surviving through our own means, relying on each other to keep going to see the next day. But, things are changing, the Soulless are becoming stronger, growing in numbers, we discovered non-friendly survivors, and death is around us. How will we survive?
1. The New World

**Welcome one and welcome all to the remake of World of the Dead.**

**Now this remake is going to be something vastly different when compared to the old version. The chapters are going to be shorter, characters are going to be changed, ideas that are being implemented that were never put in during the original and ideas from the original that would be taken out. This intro to the story will be something that will hopefully attract those zombie fans again and I want to say thank you all. Thank you for reading my first story and making it so much of a success, I admit that it may seem weird since I am making a remake of a successful storyline, but I feel that it could use these changes. I felt that World of the Dead could have been a tons better. I made many mistakes in that story and that's good, it was my first, I am not perfect, I can improve and make it better. So while it is a remake, I will be making a new title for it. It isn't going to be World of the Dead, instead it is going to be:**

_**Book One: Outbreak Chronicles: New World**_

**So with that, I will start the first chapter of this story and I hope you enjoy this greatly.**

**Chapter 1: The New World**

The night was still. The wind did not blow and clouds covered the moon. It was pure darkness, but what did not remain dark, were the eyes that have lost their once living spark, and glowed with the fierceness of hell's demons. So red and so intensified, it was if the many eyes were night lights.

"_Night lights that must be snuffed out."_ A thought in the head of a person who glanced through the broken window of one of the many abandoned homes.

His figure was masked in the darkness that he used to remain unseen. The clouds parted way for just a minute and allowed the moonlight to shine on those below. Showing hundreds of those once alive and wandered without a thought or care in the world. The only thing on their minds, in their blood and what drives them each day is a meal of flesh be it animal or man. The person who watched them was also shown. His black, raven hair and his brown eyes still gazing at the ones in the street. As the clouds covered the moon, darkness slowly enveloped the streets and the decaying bodies disappeared and their soulless eyes glowed in the dark once again.

One looked over at the person's position and he ducked down. He held his breath and broke out into cold sweat. He knew that if he was spotted, it was over for him. Just a group of five were tough to handle, but an entire hoard of Soulless would only mean his death. He stayed in his positioned for a good ten minutes and he soon heard the steps of one of them come onto the porch. He quickly got out a kitchen knife as the steps came closer to the door that was not closed as it stumbled into the house. The Soulless stood still for a few minutes before continuing on and past the young man. 

He didn't even dare take a sigh in relief. He knew that any sound could attract them towards him. He simply waited for twenty minutes as he watched the thing stumble and knock over things things that only attracted more of them to come into the home.

"_I have to leave, I need to find a way out." _The person thought and looked about for a route of escape. He soon found one in a window that was a few feet away from his spot. He saw that now there was about four of them in the home and that none were paying any attention in his direction. The darkness was truly his greatest ally and comfort as he slowly got to a crouched position and stalked his way across the room to his salvation.

The Soulless were simply oblivious to him. His steps were silent and his breath was low, but the heart in his chest beated as loud as a gun. He kept his pace steady and watched where he stepped, even in the dark, he had trained his eyes to see at least a few feet in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity, the person finally reached the window and hopped out. He landed softly and saw a bush just to his right. He quickly went into the bush that made a slight rustling. The young man glanced at the backyard he had landed in and thought that he was better off in the home. The yard had ten Soulless.

The person searched for another exit and saw the it was a broken part of a wooden fence. It was small, but he was confident that he could at least fit. He saw that the Soulless were also spread out. He didn't want to stay and fight, but he knew better than to wait. He made that mistake long ago and it costs him a member.

On his back was a bow and a quiver of arrows, and he grabbed his bow and an arrow. Using muscle memory, he put the arrow on the string and pulled back and watched as death flew with a purpose and hit the head of its target. He grabbed another arrow and repeated the process as another Soulless fell. He made quick work of three more Soulless and that soon left half the numbers. The young man kept his sights on the next set and saw one was staring at him. His body was locked in fear and his heart beat skyrocketed.

The staring continued and the person could only wait for the inevitable and glanced away for a split second to the hole in the fence. That was his mistake as the Soulless charged at inhuman speed and was going to roar until the person threw the knife and it to implant in its head. The sound made him a little sick, even after three years of hearing that sound, the sound of metal to flesh always made him queasy. The glow in its eyes dimmed as it fell head first into the ground and drove the knife deeper. Blood seeped from the wound and into the ground.

The noise of knife hitting the head and the body falling on the ground hard drew the attention of the rest of the Soulless in the backyard and they moved towards the body. The person picked up his bow and took out the rest of them in quick succession. The backyard was now clear. He made way to the bodies and ripped the arrows from their heads, still feeling queasy from the noise. As he got the arrows, he turned the body of the Soulless with the knife and saw that it was deep inside. The blade was completely inside and with half the handle.

"_It's over for this knife."_ He thought and looked around his area. The moonlight came out and the young man couldn't help but look up at the half moon and stars. He loved staring at the moon. It made him feel at peace at times of distress. His clothing was visible and it was a long sleeve navy blue shirt, over the shirt was a slim vest that was dark gray and had four zipped chest pockets. His pants were dark blue and had side pockets and had running shoes. The quiver of arrows was on his back with the compound bow's string across his chest.

After making sure he had all of his arrows, he made way to the hole and with some effort was able to get through. The moon was gone behind the clouds again. The young man was faced with a forest as he stood and stared in the darkness. He looked around his location and saw no glowing eyes and assumed he was Soulless cleared. His guard was not let down and he continued with caution. He walked through the forest as if it was the back of his hand, moving with ease and with grace and as noiseless as the still night.

Minutes turned into an hour and the young man was still moving until he saw a faint light through the trees. A smile crossed his face and he continued on towards the light. As he came closer, he saw the trip wire that was set up with cans and pans close together as to make noise when moved. He stepped over the two sets of wires and approached the light, which crackled with wood as he heard light conversation. His foot stepped on a branch and the conversation stopped and silence was composed.

He knew that they were on guard. He made the bird call whistle and stepped forward as he saw his group looking at his general direction their weapons drawn. They put them down once they realized it was him. The person looked over the group he was in and smiled at his family. They were a group of eight and all around the same age. They all went back to the fire they were surrounding and the person joined them as the light conversation continued among him. He gazed at each one of his friends.

The one across from him was the old jock and bully of the high school they all attended. The star quarterback and the most popular guy at the school. Now he was dressed in a camouflage jacket, camouflage hat that covered his ginger hair, camouflage pants and khaki combat boots. From jock to hunter of the group in under a week. He was the only other member besides himself that was silent and was polishing his assault rifle, his green eyes only focusing on that. This was Kevin Hass.

On the right of Kevin was a girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail with some hairs flayings out. She was wearing a brown short sleeve shirt, dark purple pants, and brown running shoes. A blue jacket was over her slender form. She was once the head cheerleader and one of the popular kids, but now she was in charge of their food supply, cooking and maintaining the food they had. She made sure that they had as much nutrients as possible from the meals and was currently watching the pot of soup that hanged over the fire with blue and tired eyes. Periodically, she will stand and check the soup to make sure it was cooking. Seven bowls and spoons that were either plastic, glass, or silver were on a small table at her side. Her name was Nazz Vesta and she was considered beautiful among the group despite being dirty, hair a mess, and looking tired.

To the left of Kevin was the second tallest person with them. He was the farmer of the group and worked closely with Nazz because he grew most the vegetables and fruits that they eat. His clothing consisted of blue jeans and dark orange shirt and running shoes. He wore a fur coat and had the most hair of the group with his unnatural blue hair covering his chin and his hair growing wild. He was going to get it cut soon. This was Rolf Schäfer and the only from the old world in their group and a fluid speaker of many of the languages there. He looked tired as well and was in conversation with the only other female of the group.

The female he was talking to was Sarah Green. She was the youngest of the group and was turning thirteen in a month or so. She was wearing all black for her long sleeve shirt, pants, and shoes. The only thing not black in her clothing was the jacket she was wearing which was cyan blue. She had red hair that was cut to neck length. She did nothing, no one in the group found her able to really do anything with her young and frail body. She did help anyone when they asked and watched them do what they do. The person observing her knew that Sarah would be a jack of all trades of the group if she didn't choose to focus on learning one thing. She was also the younger sister of Ed Green who sat across from her over the fire.

Ed Green was the tallest member of the group and by far the strongest in brute force. He was dressed in his guard uniform. It was the armor of a S.W.A.T member and was used for times of riots and Ed said that it was from his dad, who was a S.W.A.T member, and came with a riot shield and baton. Both objects along with the helmet that lay on the side and propped up against the wooden log he sat on. The person remembered that the baton might as well be a mace when in Ed's hand. He rarely used the shotgun strapped on his back, but he did make sure to keep it in good shape. Ed had buzzcut red hair and was in charge of defense and made the trip wire and any traps for the Soulless that wander too close to camp. He was talking to the shortest member of the group.

The shortest member was Eddy Johnson, who was half the size of the person. He was wearing baggy khaki cargo pants and a dark yellow sweater. He had a tactical vest on that held the ammunition for his sniper rifle that was in the tree house and he currently was carrying four handmade holsters with two at his side and concealed and two on his chest. His shoes were made of light, strong material and black. He was the marksman, co-crafter, scout, and gun expert of the group. The person decided to take over for him for the night and do the scouting, but he knew Eddy was faster, quieter, and able to scavenge more items than anyone in the group. Eddy grew up in a poor family in the downtown area and knew his ways of stealing and had a great interest in guns at a young age.

"_A street rat kid that was in actuality a gun expert." _The person thought as he stared at one of his most trusted friends. He along with Ed had been there for him in his darkest times and were almost like brothers to him.

"Hey Double D," The person, now known as Double D, turned to Johnny who was to his left. He was wearing an open black jacket, a wrinkled and dirty white shirt, black jeans, and running shoes. The scavenger of the group. "how is it out there?"

The question made everyone stop their own conversations and focus on him. With all eyes on him, Double D stood and cleared his throat.

"If Eddy's report from last night is correct, then the number of Soulless has doubled," The expressions on everyone's face turn to that of shock and confusion. "I doubt that they would move on in just a few day. There was a lot wandering around and they numbered in the hundreds."

"How the hell is this possible? I was sure that it was just a regular horde of them passing on like always, they should be gone by now!" Eddy exclaimed in confusion. Double D shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no that is not the case. It was a lot more than a horde. It was a massive amount of them." Double D said.

"I bet they came from the city area just a few miles away, probably ran out of food and now they are just passing by." Kevin said calmly and with a level tone.

"It's a possibility, but what about that sound we heard a few days ago. It could be that." Nazz mentioned and they all remembered the loud, death bringing screech that lasted for a full minute. The minute was filled the group with absolute terror.

"It could be that they mutated and have developed skills to bring themselves into a group. That screech could be the "alpha" Soulless calling them and what could be that something that could be keeping them here." Ed said and having read many comics on zombies felt that he had the most information of their zombie-like enemy.

"Mutated? Just a couple of them are a hassle to handle. If they mutate then we are screwed." Sarah said fearfully.

"We don't know anything about mutations. Nor can we be sure for what may be out there that caused that strange noise a few days ago. What we do know is that we have to be careful, don't let your guard down especially now with so many of them wandering around. Ed, make sure you check and reset any traps you have and if possible add more that can take care of groups of them. Eddy, tomorrow in the day, we are going to head back out there and see what could cause that screech. Everyone else is to stay here and lock up. Nazz what is our situation on food?" Double D said and asked with authority in his voice.

"Food is in bad supply. We have enough food to last us for at least a four days if we don't skip breakfast, lunch, or dinner." Nazz informed.

"The harvest is not doing so well either Ed-boy," Rolf spoke with his heavy accent. "the soil is becoming infertile and I have been able to grow little."

"Have you been using the fertilizer and dead animals to help make the land fertile?" Double D asked.

"Yes, but it does very little with the winter on fast approach." Rolf informed.

"Okay, Johnny we will be needing you with me and Eddy in the morning, we will scavenge for some food and hopefully some canned vegetables. Rolf, try to get as much as you can from the land and give it to Nazz, we need every last edible thing. The winter is coming we need to stock up as we all know how bad it can become here in winter." Edd ordered and continued on what they all needed to gather to survive another winter

Double D, or by his full name Eddward Silver, was the leader, co-crafter, and secondary scout of the group and made sure everyone had a certain job and that everything goes as plan. He was also flexible and could think of something new if the situation changed for them. As soon as it happened, he took over as the leader as they moved on. There was no vote or anything, he was just considered the leader.

The soup was done and served after a few minutes Eddward was done speaking and everyone knew what they needed to do. Dinner was a silent save for the sound of silverware to glass or plastic. It was always that way since the incident two years ago when they talked too loud and drew a horde of them and they lost two new members that joined the previous day. Dinner lasted for twenty minutes before everyone was done. Eddy was the first done and heading to the cabin to rest. Johnny, Kevin, Sarah, and Rolf soon followed with good nights being silently said.

Eddward stayed behind with Nazz, who was grabbing the pot and putting any leftovers in a plastic container, and Ed, who was once again in charge of Night watch. He made sure everyone was gone before putting out the fire, somehow having the ability to see in the dark as if day. As soon as Nazz left, it was only Eddward Silver and Edward Green.

"Why aren't you leaving Double D, I have-"

"No, tonight you rest. I know you want to stay up and stand guard, especially with that ability of yours. But you have been on Night watch for a month straight, and I know you can't have the sleep schedule of four hours each day and staying up all night. Your body will break down and you won't be no help if something actually happens and you can't warn us. Don't argue and just do it." Eddward said sternly and with expressed worry.

Ed wanted to put up an argument. He wanted to stay guard over his friends as their protector, to not let another close loss happen again. Eddward stared at his tall and inhumanly strong friend with strong eyes that held much passion but a visible a line of authority. He was ordering him to do it. Even with his strength over the smaller teen, Ed was always willing to listen to Eddward even before the Outbreak.

"Okay." Ed said with a reassuring smile. Eddward smiled back and Ed stood to leave.

"It has been three years Ed," The words of the group leader stopped him in his tracks by the fire. "that is today, three years since it began. Do you think that a mutation is possible with so much time passing since that time?" Ed turned towards his friend with a grave look in his eyes.

"Yes, I do believe a mutation is possible. I had my thoughts on it after the first year has passed. A mutation is definitely possible. These Soulless are caused by a virus, you, Eddy and I saw this on that day when that person was bit and ran to us for help. How just an hour of meeting he turned into one of them. You are smart enough to know that a virus will mutate. The mutation is not never unexpected to me at this point. It will happen sooner or later, maybe even now with that weird screech." Ed said and looked Eddward Silver dead in the eye.

"We must be careful. Extra careful, we don't know what the mutation will bring. Anything is possible at this point until we face those mutations and figure out the pattern. Add it to our survival guide when we do, who knows you might encounter them tomorrow, or the next day, or it can all be false and no mutation possible, but I highly doubt the latter being an option to be considered." Ed said and turned back towards the cabin which had a dim light barely visible through the boarded up window a foot away from the door and to the left.

"You, Eddy, and Johnny be careful tomorrow. Stay on guard and don't let drop it for a second." With that, he left to the cabin. Leaving Eddward to stare at the fire. He stared at the source of heat and light, thinking of the words of his best friend.

"A mutation...what is this world coming to now?" Eddward asked himself as he buried his head into his hands. Sighing and look at the fire with a face that seemed far older than his age. He reached into his chest pocket and pulled a small notebook out with a sharpen pencil attached by a string.

The notebook had a leather cover and had many pages left blank and still in need of being filled. He flipped through the pages and saw the many pictures and diagrams, tactics, a map of the area around the cabin, traps and how to build them, listing, everyone's skills, important dates, poems, journal entries, random and detailed sketches and notes on certain body parts on the side. It had everything that Edd ever wrote since the beginning. He was surprised to see that with about a hundred pages done, that nearly triple of that was available.

He grabbed the black pencil and started to write.

"_It has been three years on this day. One-thousand and ninety five days have passed since the beginning. One-thousand and ninety five days survived and through it all, we only lost one close friend and four strangers through that time. Everyone lose was grieved and everyone felt helpless and reminded that in this world, we aren't safe, where we are, we are not safe, what we do makes us feel safer and still we don't feel safe. Jimmy, Canel, Tuss, and Bick are still remembered by me and this journal and I recorded their stories on it until their death. I am writing everyone elses' story as well. I will continue to do so as I will try my damn hardest to keep them alive." _He paused before continuing.

"_There is talk of mutations among the Soulless. We don't know, but a few days ago, as I mentioned in the last entry, we heard that scream and I can't help but think Ed is right. I was blind to it, but he wasn't. Ed was always the one who wanted to study the Soulless and find out anything he could with more vigor than I could ever have. He had his own set of notes that goes into far more detail than my silly sketches and notes when compared to Ed's naturally artistic hands and surprisingly efficient and accurate research notes. I can still remember the shock of us when he stopped playing his "fool's facade" as he stated and got serious. He might be as smart as I am." _He looked over his shoulder and listened and didn't hear any sounds. He did it as a safe guard.

"_Tomorrow, Eddy, Johnny and I will head to neighborhood and find some food and investigate a possible location of the scream which was Southeast from the cabin. We are running low on food and Rolf can't make enough plants due to the land being used becoming infertile or either Winter has already taken it's affect on the plants. We have four days of food, I will be skipping breakfast, and possibly lunch, to let the others have as much food as possible. We need to save it. We might encounter some mutations if they have already happened and I hope not. But we will see tomorrow. I am on night watch tonight. Still can't believe that on this very day, three years ago, this all began and everything in our world change. With so much loss and so much pain, I question why we even live so long. What drives us to see the next day? What pushes us through each loss, each setback, each close encounters, what is it? I will go now and get on night watch." _Edd cracked his fingers and made to finish the entry

"_Today's dreadful day and birthday to the Outbreak is November 5th, 2019. One-thousand ninety six days survived."_ He ended the entry and check over his neat handwriting, perfected over years of practice. He closed the journal and saw the title he carved in the leather. "The Outbreak Guide and Cul-de-sac Gang Stories". He put the pencil on the side of the journal and put it back in his chest pocket. He through dirt on the fire and put it out. He was surrounded by darkness and went into the cabin.

He passed through the rooms without paying attention. The candles and lamps were all off and everyone was probably fast asleep. He made it to the balcony on top and saw the added level as to get a three sixty view of the area around the cabin. It was strong and secure. Double D walked across it and took hold of the night vision goggles that was slightly cracked and looked through and surveyed the area. He walked on the platform and checked the area around for any heat signatures and as he did a complete walk around he saw and heard nothing. The leader waited for ten minutes before doing so again, occupying his mind with meditation to pass the time. He would do this throughout the night and until dawn arrives.

**So there it is guys, the first chapter of Outbreak Chronicles.**

**I hope you all had an awesome and safe Fourth of July if you are American and celebrated. If you aren't, well I still hope you had an awesome and safe day. As I said, chapters are shorter, I think my writing is better in this story and is really showing my capabilities as a writer. Like promised, this is a remake. You notice some vast differences among the group such as Techlin being gone and Edd being in charged. They are not as secure as they use to be, it is darker and I am trying to make it more real. There is also location that will be revealed as the story goes on**

**and the zombies, now called my own original name that is the Soulless. I will also be making my own mutations and if very obvious that there will be mutations. I will try my hardest to make it unique as possible.**

**But tell me what you guys think, either in a personal message(PM) or through a detailed review. Tell me your likes, your dislikes, your thoughts, your predictions, tell me anything that is related to this story or what you will like in the story. I love reading your reviews, your helpful criticism, your thoughts, your messages, as it all helps strengthen my writing and bring you guys better content to make the story better. Tell me your hopes and dreams with this story, anything. I mean it. Others may saw that they are a "Review whore" or "review slut" or whatever. I am just a writer who wants to make his ability to write a career and is asking for honest reviews.**

**So with that, I leave you my fellow Revolutionaries until the next chapter. Peace and stay safe out there, keep writing and reading and never stop thinking as you are all are the beginning of a Revolution. **

**Next chapter:**

**Chapter 2: The Investigation **


	2. The Investigation

**Hello my fellow Revolutionaries!**

**So, here is the second chapter of the Outbreak Chronicles. I am excited for this chapter because well I am just excited. As always, the story is starting out slow and this is understandable as Ed, Edd n' Eddy is not really becoming as popular as it was in the haydays. I mean it's been a good four years or so since the end of the show and I don't think reruns are that common on Cartoon Network no more. I really do miss it, and one thing that really makes me happy is that there are people out there who are making short cartoons, short films, some who are attempting at actually having a movie with an entire cast and location and all that film stuff done and not many succeeding, all for Ed, Edd n' Eddy. Each time I see a new fanfiction, no matter if it is gay, lesbian, short and done bad, really good, one shots, two shots or whatever there is to post of , I feel even happier that people love this show or want to put their take into the universe of Ed, Edd n' Eddy. It touches my heart. **

**I want people to try to lessen on the KevEdd because while I understand it is a heated pairing, it is becoming overuse, I encourage people to write more adventure, mystery, horror, comedy, family, all the other categories and focus on that area. I personally will try to have little romance in this story, I may include a few love interest here and there but not beyond kissing and expression of feelings. Lemons are not my style, realized that in World of the Dead. What I am getting at is for others to branch out to different genres, different pairings, to experiment. I want to see more and more stories added that are different. I have written four stories so far, they all have adventure in them. I am planning on branching out as well with short stories. **

**Short stories will be simple and nice, I hope to start a small collection and will be a writers block thing with my main stories. I will hold off for the continuation of T.F.T.C to Book Two, meaning it will be some time before the next installment just to get you guys riled and excited. And just get started on short stories for a little bit. But enough ramblings, here is the next chapter of Outbreak Chronicles.**

**Chapter 2: The Investigation**

The sky was cloudy. The wind blew with a winter touch. Rolf was outside tending to what little of the crops that he could maintain with the worsening conditions and Sarah was with him. Ed stood on the platform watching over them protectively. Over the time of the Outbreak, he and his sister had grown a strong bond with each other. An overt contrast to their old relationship before when Ed feared his little sister and she was more controlling and emotional. Now, they acted like actual siblings with them spending most of their time together when their responsibilities were over. Ed took his sight off of the two and continued his patrol around the platform. His eyes were not like Eddward's and definitely not on the level of Eddy's, who was the most accurate of them with any projectiles and firearm. He was good enough that he could spot danger from afar.

As he did a complete round and ended on the cabin's balcony, he heard the front door opening and footsteps hitting the wooden floor. Looking down, he saw the two of three members of the group about to leave for the day. Double D and Johnny were ready to leave before Nazz came from the door and stopped them.

"Edd, you skipped breakfast didn't you?" Nazz asked sternly already knowing the answer.

Edd sighed and turn around to explain his reasoning but was greeted with the sight of an apple and pear, his two favorite fruits.

"At least eat these for the energy. You might need it if you guys need to bolt." Nazz said with a tender smiling. Edd took it with a small smile of his own and had to admit that he was bit a hungry. He started with the apple and Nazz left back into the cabin and passed Kevin who was in full uniform and his gun in hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" Johnny asked and Double D had to raise an eyebrow at the man.

"I am going to follow you guys part way to the snares and try to get some game that are still around." Kevin informed and put a black cylinder on the barrel of his assault rifle.

"Then get something good shovel chin." Eddy said as he came from the tree line and landed in a crouch, a sly grin on his features. He was now dressed in a dark red thin jacket with black details and black flame design and a black hood. His pants were similar to Eddward's but with two more pockets on the front thighs. He still had the tactical vest, homemade holsters with his four pistols, and his special design shoes. On his back was his sniper rifle in compact form.

"New wardrobe?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I needed a new style. Found this in a store on my last run and left it in the tree house." Eddy said giving mock poses. The tree house wasn't far from the cabin and was the highest tree in the area and Eddy's second home. It could only fit three people.

"It looks nice, but are you ready?" Double D was now finished with the apple and pear and through the cores to the ground. His bow and quiver was on his back. Johnny carried a metal bat with many dents and pistol and ammunition.

"Yep, safety's off and I am loaded on ammunition. Maybe we will find some more guns and ammo for the stockpile." Eddy was strictly in charge of ammunition storage and had it at the tree house. He also said, they could use more ammunition and guns, but never really gave an exact amount that they had. His other line when asked about firearms and ammunition was that it was "enough for hundreds".

"Alright, we are off and will be back by night." Eddward Silver said and was handed a pillow sack by Nazz who also gave the other two bags, a duffel bag for Eddy and another pillow case for Johnny.

"Good, stay safe you guys." Nazz said as she saw the four about to leave.

"Wait," Ed's voice stopped them and everyone turned to the young adult on the balcony who looked down with a worried gaze. "Be careful guys. Don't know what's out there."

"When do we ever know?" Eddy said annoyed yet the smile on his face spoke differently.

"Just saying, things are changing guys. Let's try to survive those changes on our course for survival." Ed always had something wise to say to them when things are bad and if he had a bad feeling about things. They all gave nods of acknowledgment and agreement. Things are changing for them everyday, the situation always being different the next day.

The four headed out and disappeared into the forest. Eddy ran ahead, silent as a critter and as speedy as a car. The three followed at jogging speed and five minutes in the hunter left Johnny and Double D. The two kept on moving and as more time passed they steadied their pace. Not wanting to alert any nearby Soulless. Eddy came back and said that there were a few Soulless wandering around and took them out quickly and silently.

They continued in a group and they were at the edge of the forest after sometime and saw the streets filled with Soulless.

"Damn, you were right Double D." Eddy whispered while peeking through a bush.

"Let's move to the east of here guys, stay close to the forest and try to find a way a clear way south." Johnny was behind them and a map on the ground. It was a hand drawn map from Eddy and it showed that the forest will keep going for about ten miles and that they had to leave the forest sooner or later to get to the suspected location.

They did so and continued on the edge of the forest, quiet and slow and as an hour pass by they saw that the horde was not thinning out. They had no encounters so far. They continued for a few minutes before coming to a stop.

"God, how many are there?" Johnny asked in fear and frustration. So far, them numbering by the hundreds is being an understatement in Double D's mind.

"It just keeps going, we are never to be able to get pass that alive. We can't search these houses either, we did all these houses on this side and across the street. We can't make it further unless we double back and go the other way, but I bet there's just more of them." Eddy said with obvious annoyance.

"Damn, why now?" Eddward said and looked towards the horde of Soulless their eyes still glowing as they shuffle and stumble. They all waited and thought of what to do and it took a few minutes to pass before something happen. Something loud.

"Gunshots." Eddy heard it before they did. Soon the sound was there, it was slight and barely audible to Edd and Johnny.

"How far Eddy?" Johnny asked.

"Eight hundred or something meters, I think."Eddy was never good at estimated distances on sound.

"What the hell is that person thinking. Don't they know it attracts them?" Johnny asked and they all saw the Soulless freeze in place before heading west towards the sound.

"Who cares, it can be used to our advantage." Eddy said and Double D agreed. The Soulless had far superior hearing and would follow the sound and even if they didn't hear it, they would simply grunt and moan at one another and others will follow.

"Let's wait for a while, Eddy do a quick scan of the perimeter in the forest." Eddy did as ordered and came back with a clear to Edd. " Get comfortable guys, may be here for a while."

The three waited for a good hour more before the horde thinned out. The gunshots were still ringing and more were being fired and was now noticeable to Johnny and Eddward

"Had to a convoy of survivors, too many guys being fired to be a small group." Eddy guessed as more gunshots rang in his ears. They were too many shots being fired and they had to be running low soon.

"Either they are moving or dying." Eddy noted as the sound started to fade when another thirty minutes passed. Five minutes later, it was gone.

Eddy gave a nod and they looked towards the street and saw that it was nearly barren. A few stragglers that they could take care of if they gave chase. Eddward gave the hand motion to move and they made a quick dash to the side of the house. Their weapons were out and Johnny covered their rear, Double D took point. He examined the street and saw that it was good. They moved and jumped over the fence. The three sprinted across the street and made it to a house, a few Soulless noticed and gave limped chase to them.

The survivors paid no mind and continued on. Soulless were slow and easy to lose when in small numbers. Hopping the front yard fence and continuing on through a narrow alley to the backyard. A soulless sprung from nowhere and tackled Double D. The impact made both hit the short fence and flipped over to the other backyard. The Soulless was trying to get to Double D and he fought fiercely to get the man eater off of him. Its superior strength was about to overcome the archer until a loud crunching was heard and the zombie-like creature flew to the right of Double D and a trail of blood following. It landed even more lifeless with a caved in skull.

"Thanks Johnny." Said savior of the leader was helped up by the boy, a bloody tipped bat in his left hand.

"No problem. Lets get going." The three could see that the Soulless were catching up and went on through the backyard and entered the other neighborhood over the fence. A house greeted them with it's back door off its hinges, with dried blood on the side of the door, floor, and door, nonetheless, they continued inside to the home.

"Eddy, you've been here before?" Double D asked once him and his companions were inside.

"Nope, a good place to check for supplies." Eddy stated having already start scavenging. Johnny and Edd followed suit and saw they were in the kitchen. Eddy had left to what they assume was the living room. The other two searched the kitchen, opening cabinets and seeing the shelves empty, but continued on, checking under the sink to see cleaning supplies.

"Double D, do you think we can use this stuff for something?" Johnny asked and showed the collection of cleaning items. Three years ago, Eddward Silver would gladly take the cleaning supplies, but only view the objects as a waste of space. He shook his head no and continued to look. They searched everything else and the kitchen was completely empty, spoiled foods and flies were in the now open fridge and all cabinets open and empty. The two moved on to the living room and didn't see Eddy, but saw that it looked like he went through. Many of the furniture was moved from their spot of three years, leaving marks of where they once rested in the carpet floor. There were stairs leading the second floor and they can softly hear Eddy's quick footsteps.

Johnny and Eddward double checked the living and saw it was barren of anything of use. The leader and young man were to head upstairs with Eddy until they saw a hall that lead to a door that Eddy possibly overlooked. Johnny went down the hall and Eddward resumed upstairs. Once on top of the stairs he saw that was an open door leading to a bathroom and the cabinets open and things scattered on the floor. A room door was untouched on the right of the bathroom and looking to his right, Edd saw that Eddy was searching three bedrooms. Edd took the left, of what he assumed, bedroom.

Opening the door, he saw the room was actually a stairway to the attic. Eddward stopped and stared into the darkness, a flash of a memory came across his thoughts and took a unconscious step back. He remembered the first time he was in an attic and locked inside at a young age. So dirty, dark, it took a long time for anyone to find him and after that, never ventured into an attic alone again.

"_Get a grip Eddward, it has been years since that incident. You can get over it, you can just take a step and start to climb the stairs."_ Eddward's thoughts only caused him to look at the attic.

"You still scared of an attic, really?" Eddy's voice caught him off guard and he spun around in mid strike, Eddy already sidstepped the attack.

"Shut up, I am trying to get over it." Edd said once he realized who it was and turned back to stare at the attic.

"Just get up there, attics could have anything of use, I am right behind you." Eddy reasurred him with a smile. Tried to as the leader could only sigh and stare back at the attic. It was until Eddy started to push him into the attic and with him complaining that made them both go into the attic. Entering with flashlights in hand they saw the attic and everything from the stacked boxes, random objects on the floor, and the window that barely gave any light was covered in dusk. Eddy gained a twinkle in his eye and started to search, his flashlight moving around haphazardly.

Edd got a random box and started to search it after putting the flashlight in his mouth. Opening he saw that it was clothes, and he started to pack up the clothes items. They needed clothes for a number of things such as: improvised bandages, clothing, blankets, cleaning, traps, and for anything else they could think of. It was one of the things that were a top priority for their survival. Those priorities were food, ammunition, construction materials and tools, medicine, clothes and fabrics, melee weapons, firearms, and finally, the least important and more of self entertainment, books and any form of literature.

Eddward Silver finished packing the little amount of clothes in his pillow case. He saw that the box still had some toys and rummaged through it and saw nothing of use. Another box was next and it was again toys, but still went through and found nothing of use once again. Edd glanced behind him and saw Eddy go through a box quickly and come back with a dismayed expression.

"How is it going Eddy?" The archer questioned and the speedy scavenger looked at him with the same expression.

"Not that good as I thought, almost done with the boxes over here and only found some tools, clothes, and that's it. Everything else is nicknacks and useless junk that we can't use for anything." Eddy looked through another box after speaking and paused. "But look what I found."

Edd was still looking at the eighteen year old as he pulled out an old kitchen timer. He looked through and saw that it was an old kitchen set of knives, a collection of knives really. Edd moved and saw the same thing as Eddy and gasped.

"He must have been a collector of knives, I remember these on that blasted television of Ed's. If my memory is right, some these were once hundreds of dollars in value." Edd said and wielded a long sharp knife with a curve, it was light and fast, he stabbed a box and it slid through with little effort, and sharp. He liked it and put it in his knife holder that once belonged to his old one.

"Want me to take all of these, I know you like collecting sharp stuff Double D?" Eddy asked and said boy in question answered by putting the knives, all in special cases that covered the sharp edges and put them into his bag, every last one.

The two Eds continued the searching and found nothing of actual use besides some pans and pots that can be used as weapons or cooking. They left and they had to wonder where Johnny was while they were up there.

"He went down a hall downstairs." Double D said and ran down the stairs with his pillow sack half full and on his back. Eddy was behind him, a slight cluttering from his back which was part way full. They went down the hall and burst through the door. Johnny pulled his pistol out and aimed it at Eddy and Edd.

"Wow, you guys gave me a good scare. Almost killed you guys." Johnny said and put his pistol back in his back pocket. He turned around and they saw that there was a pickup large pickup truck that they just noticed.

"Johnny what the hell were you doing?" Eddy questioned as he saw the garage had tools on a workbench.

"Someone was here." Johnny said lifting himself up into the holding area of the truck.

"How do you know?" Edd inquired. Eddy was raiding the tool bench of the many tools and material. Double D came into the back part of the truck and his eyes widen at the sight.

"Because I found this," Johnny pointed to the stockpile of food. It was a lot. Enough to last them for months if used right. "and the truck was being repaired, almost done even, a few more touches here and there and it could drive. Even had gallons of gas. This guy was well supplied for just himself."

"But where is he? If he survived this long, then he must be out or something. Might be back soon." Double D stated and Johnny shook his head.

"That's a negative Double D. Remember the door we came through, the one broke down and blood everywhere, well, things didn't work out for her," Johnny pointed to a corner and there lay a corpse, bites all over the face, arms, legs, her stomach was open and entrails lay around the body of the female. A pool of blood was around her with half of it dried, her death was recent.

"She didn't die that way, she had a gun on her. The door was broken and ripped up and off the hinges. She took her life before they did. Eddy catch!" Johnny had showed the gun, a revolver, and it had five bullets out of the six and was half covered in blood. He tossed it to Eddy who caught and had a large grin as he examined the weapon like a biologist to a new species of animal.

"Wow, and she was alone. Probably a mechanic." Edd took note of what Johnny said on the status of the car. "She was probably in group with so much food here, maybe. They were probably out and were ambushed by a horde. The others in her group probably died while running and she was the only one here. Ran inside, they followed her on hot pursuit, knocked through the door to the kitchen in a large group, that would explain the blood everywhere, they followed her through the home and she locked herself in the garage. Then offed herself."

"Could have been a detective with that type of thinking Double D." Eddy was done examining the weapon and collecting the tools and came in with the smart boy's story of the woman's death,

"Thanks Eddy. Now what to do with the food, too much for all of us to carry. Especially if we are heading to the location of the scream." Edd confronted their current problem.

"Okay, what about this, we go out and look for the screamer or whatever and on our way back we get the food." Eddy suggested and it sounded like a plan until Johnny expressed his concern.

"What if someone else comes and take it?" Eddy gave a scoff.

"Who would come and take it? Not that many survivors dumb ass." Eddy stated with a hint of annoyance.

"But we know that there are other survivors. It is surprising in the least now, after three years, that we just discovered survivors here. Maybe there are others around, I say we take some of the food and go find the scream, we come back and load up the rest if it isn't taken." Edd made a compromise for them. The two did as told and packed a few cans of food in their bag and so did Eddward.

"I really hope you're right on this one Double D, I say forget the scream and take the food home, we need it." Johnny said as they were about to leave.

"I hope so too, first the gunshots, now this woman, who knows who else is out there, surviving like us." Double D stated. They made their way to the front door and after making sure it was clear, left to the outside world.

**The next two hours was simply going**from home to home, finding stashes of loot that Johnny marked for later pick-up, slowly heading southeast. They were careful, real careful. They had experience too many close encounters in the past to act even a bit foolish or lax. They never underestimated the enemy, it would only lead to their death. All a lesson learned since Jimmy's death, they became too lax and comfortable and it cost them a close friend's life. It was a lesson to them, no matter what they did to make them safe, they could never let their guard down.

It was then, the time being around three o'clock by the sun that peeked through the clouds every few minutes. The clouds were starting to grow in size and were about ready to block out the sun, some looked like rain clouds to Eddy. It was then they ended up at the mall.

The mall was Peach Grand Mall. It was a large mall with a large parking lot. In that parking lot were hundreds, if not thousands, of Soulless wandering around. What caught their attention, on the other hand, was the Soulless that were very different. The mutations. Edd immediately got out his journal and started a sketch with Johnny's binoculars coming into handy. They hid in a group of bushes that lined the highway that was in between them and the mall, hundreds of cars lay abandon and rusted, doors open, items scattered, and greenery was overcoming some of the cars.

"Double D, I think we are going to have trouble." Eddy pointed towards a Soulless that was scaling the wall of the mall effortlessly and with great speed. Eddy's eyes were good enough that he didn't need the binoculars to notice.

"I know, none of them have ever done that. They have," Double D adjusted the zoom. " long claws going through the wall, I can't really tell it, but I think I see the holes from them in the brick wall."

"Let me see," Edd handed the binoculars to Eddy. With his eyesight and binoculars, he might as well been looking through a microscope at a germ. The leader could never get over Eddy's natural eyesight and his own "zoom" with his eyes. Eddy used to always act like he forgot the details, like he was never the observant type when he thought of scams, and overlooked many things in school and acted like a kid with a big ego and dumb arrogance. That was until Eddward and Edward stumbled upon Eddy's secret back door in his closet one day while looking for him and found a completely different side.

Eddy was quite simply a gun nut and had a wide collection of old and modern weapons and ammunition. He took detailed sketches of guns and their parts, tool, he had an old World War II rifle that he was taking apart on the day they found the secret bunker. Eddy never used the guns until he went on holidays to the country and said he would shoot all day at cans and beer bottles from his grandpa.

"Yeah, long ass claws that can probably rip anyone apart. Damn they can move fast, really fast." Eddy saw one start to climb from the bottom and dashed up the wall like a cheetah and was on top in no time.

"If they move that fast while running, we are going to be in a mess of trouble." Johnny didn't have good eyesight from how far they were, but the moving dot that scaled the wall was enough for him to make his own opinion.

"Are there anymore in the crowd that stands out?" Edd asked once he was finished with the sketch, Eddy used binoculars to find anything that stood out. A minute latter, he dropped the goggles to the ground with a soft thud.

"Eddy?" Johnny was the first to ask as he saw the shock and absolute fear imprinted in the marksman's face.

"That is the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life." He said barely under a whisper. He was still staring at it and was sweating.

The leader picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction Eddy was staring at, it was a part of the massive horde in the parking lot of the mall. Edd was confused at what he was scared of, the Soulless had decaying bodies, some of their bones were showing, stomachs were ripped open, and their clothes all raged and with most of the Soulless nude. The Soulless came with usually two legs, one or two arms. A lot of them were missing hands, fingers, lower jaws, had rotting flesh and hanging skin, revealed bones. Their skin was usually a dark dirty brown, pale white, gray, sometimes purple, green, and red due to muscle being shown. The one thing was the same for them, all had glowing red or white eyes. They were not a pretty sight at all, but Eddy was acting as if it was three years ago when they were all were sick to their core from seeing just one of them. Now they were use to it.

Eddward continued to scan the horde for the "horrible thing" and was about to stop and ask Eddy if he was seeing things until he saw it himself. He nearly dropped the binoculars and his face imaged Eddy's face which seemed stuck on his usually grinning face.

What he was looking at was not something that he could ever get use to, something that would haunt him to the end of his days. The thing that he was looking, he didn't know what to call it. It was far from a simple Soulless, it had two arms, and it's skin was gray. But it's face and body were of something else. Where there should be eyes were nothing but black sockets, seeming almost like an endless abyss that seemed to stare at your very soul, a very different sight from the usual glowing eyes. Then there was the mouth, twice the size of any man and stretched to both sides of the head. It's nose gone with a hole that had sharped points on the side and opened and closed as if it was sniffing The two arms that were mentioned were coming where the stomach should be and had claws that decorated it's arms and more holes that were ringed with sharp pointing white things. The chest was wide open, but it wasn't due to rotting flesh or from death, it was a round circle and it opened and closed slightly. On further inspection, he saw teeth that lined around the inside like a sharp and seem just as pointy. Then the legs were slightly fused together, taking away the reproductive organs and it walked with an obvious limp.

"What the fuck has this world gone to?" This caught Eddy and Johnny off-guard due to Edd's strong language. Before the outbreak, the smartest boy barely used any type of offensive language and swearing, after the outbreak began he started to use "damn", "shit", and "bastard", but any other word was left unused. They were hearing it from Edd for the first time.

"Let me see what's all the hubbah about." Johnny said and took the binoculars. Edd started to sketch it, not needing to look up. The image burned in his. Johnny dropped the binoculars once he saw and took a step back and landed on his behind in utter shock.

"I guess Ed was right about the mutations. But this is something else." Eddy said after a minute of silence.

"I finished, lets get out of here." Edd said and folded his journal in his chest pocket. He stood and was about ready to run.

"Wait, there's something else." Edd hated Eddy's eyes now. He just wanted to leave and forget about the thing, even if he would have to tell the others about it and show the sketch to them, it would give a few hours to at least let the image slip. He felt that was impossible. He saw it, even with his back towards the object of his to his back, it was in his brain. It was going to stay.

The fearful teen turned with his hesitation obvious and knelled at his original position. His two friends exchanged worried glances. This Edd was new to them. Sure, Edd, like the rest of them, had fears and feared the Soulless, but the thing they saw really shook him to the core. It was like he killed his parents again. When Ed and Eddy all found him weeping with a drenched knife of his father's blood. The body of the man was stabbed multiple times and the head once where the knife sat. There was a trail of blood on the stairs and wall that was from the bedrooms upstairs and around the living room and ended at the center where the dead father and living son. None of them went up there. Edd was in a pool of blood and Ed and Eddy had dragged him out, he was scared and a wreck for a few weeks. One time Ed caught him about to hang himself and Eddy saw him play with a gun and point it in his head or mouth multiple times. All foiled attempts of course.

Only Eddy and Ed knew about it. About what he went through and didn't dare speak a word to the others. They grew closer and had each others' back on a brotherhood level. For a while it would be just the three of them out on scouting. The three had teamwork and work wordlessly and with synchronization on a different level. Ed was the muscle and took out most of the Soulless. Eddy scouted and when they wanted to go somewhere he was the one to take out the Soulless from a far and keep watch over the other two. Double D was the one who gave a route, told them where to go, planned things out, made things click in place of a strategy that had a good chance of succeeding. They had brains, wits, and muscle and that made them all the more efficient. Nothing could stop them once they were together. They were brothers, not by blood, but they felt like they were.

**Eddy looked to one of his closest **friends, one of two of his truest friends, and grabbed him by the shoulder with a firm squeeze. There was no words exchange and Johnny didn't want to interfere. He could feel that they needed the silence.

"What did you see Eddy?" Edd said after a few minutes passed and had his journal back out to a fresh page.

"That." Eddy pointed and it was another mutation. One a pleasant sight when compared to the _thing _they saw. It was amazed that they didn't see it at first, it was, along with many others of the same size, walked on it's meaty and huge hands, the legs were fused together and like a long tail. The arms were muscular and the size of three Ed's put together. The head was large and had wide, glowing eyes. The mouth upon a zoomed in was nonexistent. Weird and was weirder when they saw that the stomach opened and had sharp teeth around the edges. The "tail" was long and had sharp bones at the end. They noticed that when the huge monsters walked by the other Soulless moved out of it's way, they feared it.

The Soulless, Ed, Nazz, Kevin, and him had to deduced, had a structure of leadership. Obviously they didn't know any sort of actual leadership, but it worked like this: communications through groans, moans, and if one goes, two or more will follow, thinking that the one going has found a source of food. A Soulless was never alone, it was rare for them not to be, if there was one, then two more were bound to be around just a few feet and two more for those two more. The big Soulless was feared, the Soulless avoided them, it walked with the sense that it was an alpha and none of them could do nothing to change it.

The Soulless that climbed walls, and the horrendous creatures they had saw, all stepped back and away just like the regular Soulless.

"There the ones in charge of them all." Edd said as he examined the things move around and the reaction of the Soulless and took a detailed sketch of the beast with notes.

"I can tell Sockhead." Eddy hadn't use that name in a long time. Two years once he thought about it. Double D took off his hat one day and never put it on. It has lost some meaning, but Eddy hoped that the familiarity of the name would get Edd back on track faster.

"Now we know there structure because look at the other mutations." Johnny had the binoculars and now and told them that the Soulless were avoiding the other mutations too, not as much as the big one, but still avoid them.

"They know they are different, that they have something they don't and could kill them in a matter of moments." Eddy said and it was common sense. If someone had something that was unique to them, made them the better person over countless others, then you will have a fear for them or respect them as superior.

"There are so many of them, the mutations. How long have they been here?" Johnny voiced the thought they had in the back at of their heads. How long did they not know of it, how long before these mutations would come to them?

"Who knows," Double D said and looked at the sky and the sun was at the position of what he guessed was about six o'clock. It would set in a few hours. They needed to head back. "but we must leave now. The scream must be further Southeast, but it is dangerous at night with them out. This information is too precious for us to go further and get jumped. Let's get to the house and get that food and go home. Should be there by midnight if the hordes are back."

The two others nodded. The Soulless for some weird reason were stronger, faster, senses increased at night. When they acted like nothing was there during the day, they acted as if there was an entire group of people at one spot at night. They got their backs, Johnny and Double D's were full and Eddy was halfway. Edd forced him to stop gathering for the food. Eddy was strong to carry all the weight and sacrificed he best skill over his aim, speed. Eddy was a natural sprinter, easily able to outrun any of them.

They were about to leave until they heard the screech. The same screech heard a few days, the same screech that made them feel more fear than the three years combined. In that moment of the screech, once they heard it first, made them froze, made them rigid with chills down their backs, to their core. They felt fear, terrified, it was absolute, nothing could describe that feeling. It was the same for them at the moment, but it was louder and the effects just as powerful as before and stronger.

They turned and saw the scary beast that made them all scared with it's mouth wide open, showing the rows upon rows of long, sharp, needle-like teeth and the blood that sputtered out as it let loose its powerful scream, with the other ones just like it doing the same. The giant Soulless did so well but with a mighty roar from the big mouth on the stomach.

The entire sound was enough for Edd, Eddy and Johnny to stay still, too afraid to move, too afraid to do anything but listen. Even when it was over, they were staying in their same position. It was the sound of thunder that made them flinch and the downpour of rain began.

**So there it is. Wow, a lot of things had happened in this chapter. This chapter is something that I must say that really gives the information about the protagonists' main enemy. The Soulless and the mutations are of my own creation, the description I gave them is inspire from other sorts of fiction and movies. I bended them to my will and made them my own. Like the giant Soulless, I simply thought of the Tank from Left 4 Dead and made my twist on it with the tail and mouth on the stomach. The scary one I just thought of on my own at the moment and just went with it. The one that scaled the walls were of inspiration from the Feral of the State of Decay which I hope comes to Xbox One soon as I love State of Decay and play it on the Xbox 360. It was just crazy and I enjoyed it greatly.**

**But what do you guys think? Did I do well, any grammar mistakes, any good things you saw, were the mutations really unique. Do you have any mutations that I could give a look at. The names of the mutations in this chapter would be revealed in the next chapter as the story continues. I have a pre-plan in my head so don't think it will be random as shit, there is a plan in this story. A plan that I will follow as much as I could.**

**I also implemented some writing techniques that I learn from reading Little Brother by Crow Doctorow, a great book, I suggest reading it. What he did was that when there was a transition or a beginning of a chapter, he would make it bold and larger and a different format. I think when I post it, it would just be bold, hopefully it would be the size I wanted. **

**But I will do that now instead of saying "at this place, at this time with this character" and so on. I would sneak the location in the text and the time I will do the same. If you all have any other writing techniques for me to try or at least look at them tell me in a review or PM. I am always on the lookout for the criticism, to get better to see what you guys think of when you read the chapter, please send me this, please. I like to thank everyone who had reviewed, followed, favorite, and PMed me things you like, things you want to see happen, your hopes, your dislikes, send me things like that and I will not turn you away. Bring it! **

**So with that,**** leave you my fellow Revolutionaries until the next chapter. Peace and stay safe out there, keep writing and reading and never stop thinking as you are all are the beginning of a Revolution. **

**See you on the next chapter.**

**NEXT CHAPTER:**

**Chapter 3: Home and Downpour.**


	3. Home and Downpour

**Hello, hello my fellow Revolutionaries!**

**And we are back with more Outbreak Chronicles, the series is going good so far, I read all of your reviews and I appreciate them greatly. I always respond to questions as soon as I can. My internet is currently off at home, so I uploaded the chapters for The Five That Changed and Outbreak Chronicles at my local library and its a one hour session, two sessions per day. I respond to you guys as fast as possible when I do. I really want to thank you guys for reviewing, for asking questions, for telling me what you like, and so on. I know I am like a broken record with the thank yous but I can't help saying it.**

**As of now, Book One: The Five That Changed is finished and everyone loves the ending, I was hoping for that. The ending line is what I am most proud of especially with Ed, the most loved character in my eyes, saying that line. It was probably the best way to end it there. I was going to go on, but then I sat and thought and said, "Boom, ending it there.". I also mentioned that the next book will not be out for a few months, because of schooling getting in the way, and will be around the Holidays, maybe Thanksgiving or around Winter break for me.**

**Enough of this, let us go into more Outbreak Chronicles and thanks for the support of the original mutations guys, I try my best.**

**Chapter 3: Home and Downpour**

**Ed gave a yawn.** The job he does is boring most of the time. Not much happens for him when he is on guard duty. It was truly monotonous, getting up every ten minutes and walking around the platform, searching for any sort of danger. The eighteen year old could only sigh. He loved doing it because he was protecting his friends in some way besides his traps scattered around the perimeter. Ed memorized the "safe area", where his traps guarded them, kept them safe as much as possible. Ed knew that he had about thirty traps, all different from one another, and the making of the perimeter of the "safe area". The perimeter started around three hundred feet of the cabin in every direction. More than enough space for Rolf's crops.

He glanced to the west and a little over the treeline, he could see the roof of the tree house Eddy used. It was out of the perimeter, he didn't like that Eddy was so far, but he trusted his friend and knew that he could defend himself. When Eddy was out to the tree house he was a good three miles away.

"_Besides,"_ Ed thought. _"Eddy is a fast runner, nothing could catch him."_ Ed remembered the good times. Before the Outbreak, when each day was lived in fear and their parents were still alive.

Ed never saw his parents. Sarah did. They were out in the marketplace when it hit, Sarah came looking for him at the gas station he worked, screaming, crying, and covered in blood. It was horrible. Through her sobs, he told her some strange man came and attacked them from an alleyway they were walking by. The man tackled his mom and bit her neck, his dad had fought back by throwing the man off and into the wall, breaking his neck. His mom was already dead when the action was done and his dad sob as he tried to call 911, he was attacked by the same man he threw to the wall, neck twisted but his bite was still just as strong when he bit through the back of his father's head, Sarah ran when she saw blood. Came to him,

Ed took it hard. He wanted to cry with Sarah as well, he eventually did. They sat for, what he thought, a good thirty minutes just crying. Ed recovered, he believed that if his parents were gone, if that they really died, then he had grow up. End his facade of being an idiot, to stop acting like a child and become the man that needed to protect Sarah. He took Sarah, took her away to their home, she was still crying. He carried her effortlessly. He ran fast as well. Faster than he ever had. The marketplace was becoming what he thought it would be. There was fighting, confusion, people on their phones calling for help, Ed knew that it wouldn't work. He felt it. They were on their own. Once they were at home, he left Sarah in his basement, who was very reluctant and vulnerable, eventually he took him with her instead.

He met up with Eddy. Who was in his home, unaware of what was going on. After he informed him, sadly and about to let out a fresh amount of tears, of what happened with his parents, Eddy called his parents who were with his only living family, his mom's parents, his dad's two brothers, and his own brother. They were stuck in traffic coming back from their "grown up" outing. Eddy was going to call back after he helped find Double D. He never did. The phone lines were down by then. They then found Eddward, in his home, with his father in front of him on the floor. Ed left Sarah outside. Ed saw the knife and the stab wounds, at the time, they didn't know the virus was the dead coming back to life. Everyone knew that the flue was going around, that Edd's father and mother had caught it and had to stay home from work. They believed Edd had killed his father, Eddward felt that too, even to this day when they now knew that he was dead before, Edd felt that he killed his dad.

After pulling him away, they left the home. Never looked back. They found the other neighborhood kids in the next two hours. Kevin, Nazz, Rolf, and Jimmy lost contact with their parents. They were at work, the calls they made did not get through, phone lines were dead. Eddy tried even with that information, nothing. They found Johnny with a stranger, he was bitten in his arm. They didn't know at the time what it meant. They stopped the blood. He was bitten recently when they found him, just mintues before, it took an hour for him to turn. Ed to fight with him and nearly got infected himself until Kevin saved him by smashing the TV on the man's head. The body was thrown out.

After that, they spent the night at Eddy's home. They turned on the news, found out what was happening on a global scale. The marketplace, which was filled with chaos and death, was just a small area. There was other spots, downtown, malls, traffic, apartments, cities across the nation, all were suffering death, people were being bitten, people getting back up and attacking others. It was a epidemic, a virus with no cure. The electricity was on for a few hours, then random blackouts happened, then after the fourth blackout on the next day, it never came back on. They were left on their own. They waited for a week. They never left to the outside, they stayed locked in Eddy's home until-

"Ed," Said boy was brought out of his reminiscing by their hunter, Kevin. "I'm taking over the watch."

"What time is it?" Kevin looked to his watch and to everyone it was the only working one in the world . It was a pocket watch his grandfather passed on to him

"Two: thirty seven." Ed sighed. It has been five hours since Edd, Eddy, and Johnny left. He hoped they were safe.

Ed didn't argue as he relieved his post and gave Kevin the watch. Kevin looked frustrated. Ed could tell that there was either nothing in the snares and for him to hunt, or very little to really be something of a catch. He still asked.

"How were the snares?" Ed was greeted with sharp and frustrated eyes. Despite the negative energy. He felt glad to see those eyes. They had a soul in them, unlike the Soulless' eyes.

"Not good. Three rabbits, one squirrel, not enough." Kevin, since the beginning, was the main meat provider for them. The amount of food to Ed was enough for Ed. Anything counted to him, no matter how big and small. He told Kevin. He scoffed.

"I understand everything counts, but a good amount of game is what we need. Who knows if they will find something out there." Kevin said.

"I know, fours days left of food though, no need to worry so much." Ed felt that he was speaking fool's words. Days flew by quickly.

"Four days. It will be gone before we know it." Kevin supported Ed's feeling. It would be gone before they knew it.

Ed left Kevin to work. Ed had already checked his traps before the group left out. A few Soulless were caught. The trapper removed them and reset the traps. He dumped the bodies far from the traps. HE went down the stairs and was on the second floor of the cabin. Five doors were there. One to his left and right, one a few feet away on the side of the one to his right, and two down the hall and pass the staircase next to each other. The cabin was larger than normal cabins and could fit two families comfortably with its many big rooms. Ed and Sarah shared a room, everyone else had their own. The siblings' room was on the first floor, along with Kevin's, Eddy's, and Edd's room. Nazz,Johnny, and Rolf slept on the second floor. Jimmy used to sleep on the second floor. The one extra room was used for exercise.

Ed had exercised with the heavy weights that he kept in his and Sarah's room. The items would be too much for the second floor to handle. Ed went to the room down the hall and on the right of the two doors and looked inside. There was a homemade punching bag, lighter weights, Eddy and Edd made a bike pedaling workout machine from old bike parts. Ed never really cared for the actual name. Everyone was responsible for keeping fit, Sarah would bug them about it to workout when they didn't. She started to push them more after Jimmy, who barely did workout, died. It was a way for her to comfort herself. They were getting stronger meaning they had less chances to die. They all understood and would eventually do it and saw her smiling. They cared for Sarah almost as much as Ed did.

Ed left the room. He always liked to peek inside everyone's room to see how it was. It comforted him a little when he did. It was strange. He looked to the room next to the exercise room, it was Johnny's.

The room for such a strange boy was fairly standard. A bed, dresser, a few candles lay in the boarded window seal, some books on the ruffled bed. Johnny didn't have Plank no more, he grown out of him weeks before the Outbreak. Besides being a good scavenger, Johnny knew the most about medicine. Had a book on what plants could be used for a number of ailments. He went with Kevin on his hunts to find those plants and made what over medicine he could for us. Ed was told by the boy that hid parents owned a pharmacy and that he gloated he knew about medicine. He was their "doctor" for when they got sick, though it was rare for them to get sick or hurt. The boy still collected and read the books, just in case. He kept everything under his bed. Ed could see some books and cases with plant samples peaking out. He closed the door and went to the next room.

It was Nazz's. The door was across from the staircase. He looked inside and saw a plain room with the same look to Johnny's except with a lot more books, more pillows, two dressers, and a pink blanket. Nazz read mostly mystery and thriller books, he remembered her once saying to him a while ago, and cook books. Said girl was actually sitting on her bed, asleep and a book in hand. He closed the door softly. She needed her rest. Nazz, Sarah, and Rolf were the ones to venture out away from the Cabin least. Rolf would tag along sometimes, Sarah went two times and that was it, Nazz would venture out to see what it was like and release some personal stress. The girl was no pushover, in fact, she was deadly with a knife, more so than Edd who had a habit of collecting knives and practicing. Edd once told him he saw her with one of his knives, practicing strikes to imaginary Soulless. She was fast was all the genius said.

He went to the door left of the staircase to the balcony. Rolf's room. Rolf's room was not simple. Like Rolf, his bed was really a pile of animal furs and his blanket was a large black bear pelt. On the walls were weird foreign decorations. He had a few books himself and candles. His window, unlike everyone else which was boarded up with wood, was covered with animal furs. Ed could never really understand Rolf's tradition, they were cool, but confusing. Rolf was still outside, farming. Rolf was valuable to them for that skill, really valuable. They had livestock once. Once. Food was low. The livestock was food. He left that room and came upon Jimmy's.

Jimmy's room was not that well visited. Not since his death. The guilt, no matter how many times he was told, was too much for him. His eyes were sadden. He missed the boy. Ed was no fool. Jimmy was weak, he didn't have any skills that can contribute to the group, nothing for him to do. He was also a little lazy. But he was changing, he took an interest with Johnny with medicine and Kevin with hunting. He was learning from Kevin how to shoot, he sucked at aiming and the gun scared him, but the hunter would say that he was improving. He was good with medicine, a natural, Johnny said. He was physically weak and couldn't really do much. He whined too. Yet, he was changing, he got good enough with a gun that he could go with them for scavenging. It was his first and last time.

Ed moved away from the room. He still wasn't ready to go in there. Ready to see the room where the boy he had let die once slept peacefully. He went downstairs. To Edd's room. It was a plain, neat bed. And one dresser was all that was normal. On the wall was an array of knives and blades that Edd would collect and train in. There was special cases on his dresser that held his special knives and throwing knives. He barely used them and Nazz was starting to becoming really good. Double D also shared to him and Eddy might give his knives to Nazz since he only collected them for hobby most of the time. But he would keep one of the blades. It was a small katana, the name escaped him of what it's actual name was, but it was sharp and the sheath was beautiful. Double D said he had roots in the Asia and found the blade to belong to his family, it was a heirloom. It was still dangerous and sharp as any normal blade and Eddward kept it maintenance. Besides that he also had many books stacked around his room as there were blades. There was some on his bed, a lot under his bed, a lot stacked on the side of the bed facing the window, reaching to the window. Everyone would usually come and take books, the daily reader would barely care, he had enough to read. He read anything, magazines, old newspapers, any genres, yet no comic books. He disliked comic books.

Leaving the room, Ed turned to the room next to Double D. It was the Inventor's Room. Eddy and Edd's workshop that was full of a bunch of tools, a homemade furnace, an anvil, scraps of metal, wood, leather, wires, cables, anything that could be changed to fit their needs was there. The furnace was made from a how-to survival book that they stumbled upon on a scavenge. It was hard to built, materials were scarced, but after a year they did it. The two made many things, from holster, to weapons, blades, traps for Ed, little art creations to show, projectiles, knives, tools, they were currently working on a fence for Rolf's crops and Edd was doing a small surprise for Nazz. Her birthday was coming in a week and he was making her multiple knife holster. It was made from the stockpile of leather that they had. It would be her seventeenth birthday. While birthdays were certainly not like it was years ago, it was still fun, small gifts, some treats, sometimes some cake. It was a little normal and a distracted them for a few hours from the real world, it was just celebrating.

He left and went to Kevin's room. The hunter actually was just a normal room. Nothing really special. He skinned his animals outside and turned it into leather. There was nothing really. The only thing that stood out was the small tools he used on his assault rifle for repairs or for fun. He left and went to Eddy. It was normal too, Eddy kept all of his weird things at the tree house. He was there most of the day. Leaving only when he sees the mirror flashing for him to come over.

The front door opened and Ed turned to see Sarah come in. Sarah looked tired.

"Why are you so tired looking?" Ed asked. He noticed the dirt on her hands and clothes.

"Farming with Rolf is harder than I thought. And dirtier." Sarah answered with a giggle and headed for the bathroom. They didn't have gas, running water, but they had a generator that was used only for storage and powered by solar panels, Double D, Ed, and Eddy had worked effortlessly for months to make the gas power generator solar powered AND to produce little sound. It broke down every once in a while, but it was still good. Kept the room they kept the food nice and cold. The bathroom had a bucket and sponge and that was it and was used for laundry. Kevin was actully working on trying to make a shower for them, and something for them to make the water warm for them without needing to put it over the fire.

Sarah requested for some clothes and Ed went to retrieve them. The Green sibling's room had two beds and two dressers. Ed went over to her dresser, glancing at his stockpile of comic books. He reached in and got a blue shirt and blue sweat pants. Ed looked to Sarah's book and saw the lone book on her bed, it was_ George and Caesar_ by Christian Cameron. A good book in Ed's opinion, a little advance for Sarah. Ed went on and gave her the clothes, she thanked him. Ed went to the living room and sat on the couch. The living room was a decent size. When it was raining, everyone would sit around and chat, tell stories, laugh, have fun. Ed smiled. It were the few moments where everything was normal. Like the world outside didn't exist. There were two couches, one recliner, a glass table, an empty TV stand that had books stacked on it. There were game boards under the table, chess, checkers, kids games, and cards. Pass times besides a book.

Sarah came and joined her brother. They both played some checkers. They both were bad at it. They followed the written instructions as best as they could. They ignored them and just played it their way. To them it was more fun. They played for a long time and they heard thunder and a flash of lightning come from the cracks of the boards. Soon, it started to rain heavily. A soaked Kevin came down from the stairs and the two siblings gave some chuckles at him. Kevin sighed at the laughter, wasn't really funny, even then he gave a slight smile and head to change into his normal clothes. It was a tight orange shirt and pants. He wore sneakers. Kevin Hass had a towel in hand as he dried himself off. His ginger hair was now free and wild and reached the bottom of his neck He joined the siblings.

"Raining too hard to even see two feet, where the hell it came from I will never know." Kevin said drying his face. He saw the scattered pieces of checker pieces and the still smiling faces of the current two players.

"Tried playing checkers again?" Kevin asked with a knowing grin. Rolf came in a second later and soaked just as much as Kevin. He went to his room to dry off.

"Yep. Keyword: tried." Sarah answered. They continued and Kevin watched. Rolf, in a new pair of clothes, joined the watching as well.

"**Where the hell does a** storm like this come about?" Johnny whispered looking out the window and seeing the heavy rain. He couldn't see far.

"I don't know. We can't go out just yet. We have to wait for it to lighten up." Eddy said at the same tone. He had checked and made sure the doors were locked and windows were as well.

"Lets rest for a while. Try to figure out these mutations, get some detail notes and assumption." Eddward said and made a motion to go upstairs. They were drenched. The three couldn't do anything about it. The air would dry their clothes for them.

"I couldn't agree more." Eddy spoke.

Johnny and Eddy followed Double D upstairs. There was just three rooms, once belonging to a family. It was in one room that Johnny stumbled upon a nasty sight, the family was in the bed with bite marks on various parts of their body. There was a gun in the hand of the father at the end of the bed. In the middle was the little boy that was no older than nine, a dried brown opening on his small head of his decaying body. Then the mother with the same circle on her head, they were dressed in pajamas, as if they were going to sleep. Johnny left and throw up from the smell and the sight. He was the weakest to the sight of something like that. Eddy checked, taking the gun, and came out. He guessed they were dead for about two years.

"Probably knew what would happen if they got bit. Died as a family." Eddy said. It was not uncommon to them. On many of their scavenges they would find the same sight with different people, different kids, some of them even saw their old peers laying with their families. It was probably Johnny's first time seeing something like that.

"You okay?" Double D asked the sixteen year old Johnny who was breathing hard, his breakfast was down the stairs.

"Y-y-yea." Johnny said shakily. He stood with a shudder. Edd went to another room, seeing that it was empty, ushered the others in. It was the little boy's. The room was what was expected for a child. Toys were strewn all over the floor, walls were painted a bright orange color, the bed was messing with an orange and blue blanket and sheets. Drawer and small closest that was slightly open. Eddy kicked the toys out of the way to make a sitting area for the three on the carpet floor. They sat. Double D got out his notebook and flipped to the sketches that had rooms on the side for notes, he first turned to the one that screeched. The most hideous thing in his eyes.

"So this one. It screeches." Edd said putting the notebook, open, on the ground in the middle of them. Eddy turned it to his side.

"Since Soulless are attracted by sound, they can be a lot of trouble for just one of them. They can draw in hordes, and with multiple amounts of them, well we can get what me and you saw in the last few nights." The massive horde. Eddy looked at the detailed sketch, a cold feeling filled him. Johnny took his turn at looking at it.

"Let's not forget the mouth, or mouths, it's huge especially when open. Then there is the one of the chest, and the arms, and the claws. It probably isn't faster than a regular wandering Soulless for the legs being fused like that." Johnny noted.

"I hate to be the one caught in its grasp. The teeth are all sharp, needle-like and are rowed like a shark's teeth. It probably bites all over the body of a victim, eats it in different parts, one for the mouth, chest, and arms. Horrible way to die." Edd said. He took the notes on the side of the sketch and drew arrows to the parts related.

"It probably doesn't really gets it food. While it might have a good grab, it could be easy to avoid due to being slow, if Johnny is right that is, it relies on numbers like the Soulless. Screeches to bring them in. Uses its own kind to get what it wants." Edd said next.

"So the primary way of attack is the screech. Think of being up close to that thing when it screams. Could blow our heads offs or knock us out." Johnny held a point. It was indeed a loud one.

"It also uses the screech to bring in other Soulless as a secondary, maybe to back it up." The leader said.

"Okay, we have all the other stuff down, what do we call it?" Eddy asked.

"I have a good name for it," Eddward said. The seventeen year old had been thinking of what to call it ever since he saw it. "Beacon."

"Beacon?" Eddy and Johnny questioned.

"Yes, like a beacon it attracts something to it. Even if it uses its screeching to attack, it will attract the Soulless anyway, like a beacon." Edd explained. The other two thought about it. They agreed a minute later. Edd wrote it down and went to the next mutation. It was the one that scaled the wall.

Nothing was really noticeable about it. The mutation had a skinner body and sharp long claws on it's hands and feet. It was fast. The speed it scaled the Peach Grand Mall was inhuman. They had a fear that it was fast on the ground too and able to chase anything down. The claws were sharp and if they could cut through brick they could just as easily cut through flesh and bone. It was something they had to fear. Something probably faster than Eddy. Eddy came up with a name. He called it Agile. They agreed, it's agility probably something it use with its ability to climb buildings.

Next was the big one. The big and strong. They came up with a name for it already. They called it Alpha. It was the one in charge. The strongest of the Soulless. They didn't need to think of much of how it eats or attacks. It most likely used its tail for piercing and as a safe guard for behind it. It used its meaty arms as a way to use its superior strength to crush through walls and people. It could probably kill any of them with just one hit.

"So we have the Beacon, Agile, and Alpha as our mutations." Edd said and reread the notes he made. He and Eddy feared one thing once they returned: Ed. Ed took a habit of figuring the Soulless out and the mutations would make him want to study them. To figure them out. They knew it. Once they were finished telling the others, he would want to go and get at least one of them to study.

"Yep. It is going to be trouble for us." Johnny said. The three mutations would be challenge to fight. One was able to move fast, one was able to attract a horde, and one was strong, really strong. They were going to be up for a big fight in the future if they encountered them.

"Why," Edd started to get his companions' attention. "were there so many there I wonder?"

"Actually, you got a point there. There was a lot of them. Too many to just wander around. Why not migrate like any other horde?" Eddy said. It was common for Soulless to not stay in one place for long. To move along to somewhere else if food couldn't be found.

"The only reason for them staying would be food, survivors." Johnny stated.

"Survivors? But where did _they_ come from? We've been here for three years and we searched many places with no signs of survivors. Where were they until now?" Edd questioned.

"Maybe from different places. I mean it is common sense that when things are cold, they move faster. So people could be coming from the south to here. Our city is on the border of Canada and the U.S." Eddy said.

"Our winters are bad, Soulless are slower at that time too. Good thing we live in Washington." The leader said.

"But the mall, if there are survivors here, then there has to be a lot of them there." Johnny said. It would make sense. The enemy would have moved on a long time ago if there wasn't. The survivors had to be dug in hard to be able to hold off that many Soulless.

"True." Edd said. He glanced to the window and he could see that it was raining, but it wasn't as heavy as it was before. The young man stood and looked out the window, he could see across the street. They could leave.

"Okay, lets leave. It is still raining, but we can see now. We can go check for the food and head back home." Edd grabbed his journal and headed for the door, the two followers right behind him. They did one sweep of the house and found nothing they didn't have. Luckily, there were a few cans of food that they took without hesitation. They covered their noses from the smell of puke from Johnny and left the home. Beforehand, they checked to make sure it was clear.

Once outside, they started to run and their shoes splashed the water on the ground as they ran.

**The three scavengers reached** the home in no time. There were a few Soulless in the streets, dead. It wasn't from them. They entered the home cautiously and weapons drawn. They saw that the floor had multiple mud tracks. It was leading to the garage. They couldn't tell if the tracks were leaving or going, Kevin could if he was with them.

They looked at each other. They were tense. They moved, weapons ready to fire as they came to the hall, the mud led to the door at the end, it was slightly open. The three young men moved. They pointed their weapons at the door, Johnny turned halfway there to watch their backs. What felt like years were actually minutes as they came to the door. Edd and Eddy glanced at each other. Double D charged in first and before he knew he was hit in the head by something and tackled to the ground. Edd was dazed and could hear shouting. He saw that someone was over him, someone strong, his sight was a little disoriented but the one on him was holding something to him. Something sharp, the shouting intensified and it gave him a headache. The shouting became audible and he can hear Eddy and Johnny shouted at two others who were also shouted.

The smartest Ed's eyesight started to become better. He then saw that the sharp thing pointing at him was being held by a boy around his age. His clothes were dirty, torn, and bloody. His eyes were a dark blue and filled with fear, aggressiveness, and were frantic. His hair was a dark color and his face was light skin but covered in dirt and so was his hair. His mouth was moving, but Edd couldn't understand. He was still dazed. He could only hear the others shouting. Then he could hear him. The sound of the world was now clear to him.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" The frantic boy shouted over the others clearly to Double D. His voice was hoarse and he breathed heavily.

**Wow, some cliffhanger huh? **

**So that is the third chapter of the Outbreak Chronicles. I have to say that this chapter is pretty good. I say this because it gave insight on the day of the outbreak, you guys saw the inner layout of the cabin, sort of, still more rooms to go.**

**And the mutations got the names. Beacon for the one that looked like something from a horror movie, Agile for the scaling one, and Alpha for the huge Soulless. I like the names, how about you guys? **

**Also, I introduced survivors, yes. I was actually planning on it a little later on. But I got the idea of the ambush at the last second and I felt that it would be a good way to implement the survivors. Especially with the way I did it, of course survivors wouldn't meet on good graces. Of course there is going to be some trouble especially when there is food involved.**

**I have to end it here guys and I thank you all for reading this chapter and for the support. I know I have been putting this chapters out fast, like a few days apart or a week apart, but that is because this story's chapters are not suppose to be long. I decided to do this because it makes it easier to give to you guys. This took me about three days to write up. I have the free time due to summer and I want to use that free time to make these chapters. When school starts, of course with my busy schedule, the updates will be slower so just enjoy the speed of uploading these chapters as it will not last forever, unfortunately. **

**Again thank you for the support of this remake. I hope you all are going to have safe days and keep going strong in your lives, pursue your dreams, accomplish goals, live life. Stay safe Revolutionaries, as you guys are part of the Revolution.**

**NEXT CHAPTER!:**

**Chapter 4: Survivors**


	4. Survivors

**And here we are again with another chapter.**

**Hey guys, here I am working on the next chapter just hours after uploading the last one. I am really getting excited for this story and getting things done quickly and efficiently. I am probably going to upload super fast for a while, like I said in the last chapter, until school starts. So I am running out of things to do for these author notes, but I will not stop doing it. Instead, when I don't have to really say anything to you guys, but a thanks as always for the support of this story. I really have a lot of free time, especially for when I don't have much to do anymore for the weekends. Internet is off at the moment at my home it actually has been off for about two weeks now and I have been going to the library to upload the chapters, respond to PMs, answers questions and so on. **

**Actually, now I have something to say to you guys. Don't stick to FanFiction reading, even though I am a fanfiction writer and that is weird since I do want you guys to read my stories, but don't stick to fanficiton. It is good to always pick a regular book and read it. I do recommend books like _Legend_, _Prodigy_, and _Champion_ by _Marie Lu_,_George and Caesar_ by _Christian_ _Cameron, __Little__Brother_and _Homeland_ by _Cory Doctorow_, _21 Essential American Short Stories_, _Incendiary_ by Chris Cleave, and any book that you can find. It is good and the stories I suggested were very good to me.**

**So without further ado, lets get on to the next chapter.**

**Chapter 4: Survivors**

"WHO ARE YOU?!" The boy's voice was hoarse and he breathed heavily. The sharp object was still pointing at his face and was inches away from piercing his skull. There was still shouting between his two and his captives two. Edd has been in situations where he has been close to death too many times. By the Soulless. Another human? He never thought of the situation. Never predicted it. It was so unlikely. Double D decided to answer the question and to show no fear.

"M-m-my name is Eddward Silver!" Edd shouted. The fear was evident. Eddy and Johnny's voices stopped. So did the unknown voices. Edd glanced to the corner of his eyes, he could only see Johnny and Eddy, but not the others. Eddy was gritting his teeth and looked ready to kill, Johnny was not far behind. He looked back at the person above him. He had him pinned by the arms with his feet.

"Friend or Foe?" The one with the sharp object asked in a lighter tone.

"What?" Edd felt dumb for not understanding the question. The seventeen year-old was still shocked by the turn of events.

"FRIEND OR FOE?!" He shouted once again.

"Friend! Friend! We're survivors just like you!" The boy didn't look calmer. His eyes were still frantic, still not trusting Eddward.

"Friend?" The boy questioned as if he never heard the word even if he just spoke it just seconds ago. "Okay."

Edd felt the pressure come off him and he reacted. He pushed the captive off and grabbed his bow. As soon as his use-to-be captor fell on the floor, he grabbed an arrow and drew and held it down. The tides were turned. Now he was the one holding a sharp object at the boy. Edd looked and saw he had a spear. He went back and settled his gaze on the young man who looked fearful. He was covered in sweat, or was it rain? No time to think, the threat was on the floor and he had the upper hand.

"Hey," Edd recognize a girl's voice and turned, she looked just like the boy in regards of clothes, dirty, torn and bloody. They looked like they haven't bathed in a week. Her hair was red and brown from dirt. She had freckles and mint green eyes. She was holding a black crossbow pointed at Johnny."we don't want trouble okay? We just want food that's it."

"Yea," The other survivor was a male, he looked around the age of the one on the ground. He was in the same condition and his skin was light tan and covered in dirt. His eyes were black. He was holding a weird contraption in his hand, but it looked like it was loaded with something that could shoot. It was pointed to his "brother"."We just want food. We haven't eaten in a week, man. Come on."

They all shared one thing: their eyes and a bad smell, haven't bath in a long time. It held fear, frantic, heavy breathing.

_"The mud was fresh, they ran in here when it started to rain. They're scared. We shouldn't be treating them like this. They are other survivors."_ Edd thought. He looked at them all. They were about to kill each other.

"Eddy, Johnny stand down." Double D ordered.

"Double D they-!" Eddy started.

"I said stand down!" Edd added his authority his words. It was rare that he used it so fully, especially to his best friends, but now was not the time. Eddy and Johnny listened. They hesitated, but listened.

"Callie, Dante you can guys put your weapons down too." The boy on the ground said. The two, now known as Callie and Dante, put their weapons down. Eddward did so as well. He held his hand out to the boy who grabbed it with some reluctance.

"The names Techlin, friends call me Tech." The boy, now known as Techlin, stated.

"Well Tech we-"

"We aren't friends." Techlin interrupted.

"Sorry, Techlin, where are you guys from?" Edd had to ask. He was wondering they were coming North to escape the Soulless like they hypothesis a little while ago.

"San Francisco." Techlin answered. That confirmed their suspicion.

"You guys are locals?" Dante asked.

"Yes." Eddy's hand was still twitching next to his pistol that he had put away. He was ready for the first sign of distrust.

"Is this your truck and the food inside?" Callie asked nodding her head to object behind her.

"Yes, the food is. Truck was here already." Edd didn't like lying. But it was theirs. They found it.

"Can we have some, please? We're starving." Techlin asked, almost begging, for the food.

"A few cans." Eddy told sternly. He reached into his bag and threw four cans of food to them. They picked it up greedily.

"Thank you, thank you!" The three said. Techlin used his spear to open the cans. Edd noticed it now. It was well kept. The wood looked strong. The end of the spear was sharp as well and three feet long. The shaft was seven feet. There were two other blades that had the same base as the blade in the middle but curved to the side of the shaft and had jagged edges. There was a small blade at the bottom of the spear. Double D noticed some design on the wood and couldn't tell what it was exactly. The cans were opened and they consumed it with little problem. It was a little disgusting. The cans were finished in no time and they all had content smiles.

"Man, you guys weren't lying about starving." Johnny said. The three chuckled.

"Yeah, we've been traveling on foot for a while. Had some bad encounters with those _things _out there in our way. We've traveled far, really far." Techlin said.

"How did you guys survive with just the three of you?" Edd asked. He was amazed that they traveled this far with just themselves.

"We were in a larger group, about fourteen of us." Techlin said sadly. The other two had the same look. They were the only ones to survive the journey.

"Sorry, I didn't know." Edd didn't want to bring about any pain.

"It's fine. We're over it." Callie lied. Eddy could tell things by their eyes. He had been lied to too many times in his younger days to not notice. He, or his friends, did not pressed further on the subject.

"Where are you guys heading?" Johnny asked.

"We, we really don't know." Techlin looked frustrated with the answer. "We just been heading North. We figured _they _were slower in colder places."

"By _they _you mean the Soulless." Eddy clarified.

"Soulless? That's what you call them? Then yes the Soulless." Dante said.

"You're right, they are slower in the winter, do you guys have a specific destination?" Eddy asked. He was answered with a no. They were figuring they would head to the city and squat down somewhere for a while before continuing up North.

"You guys can stay with us." Edd said after some thought. Eddy looked at him crazily. He turned a grin to the three survivors.

"Let me talk to my associate for a little bit." Eddy took Edd and dragged him to the corner next to the tool bench.

"The fuck is your problem Sock head? Got hit in the head too hard?" Eddy whispered furiously.

"No, my head is very clear Eddy. I was just extending an invitation to join us. There is strength in numbers." Edd said in a whisper.

"Strength in numbers my ass! They had fourteen guys and look at them, they barely survived out there. They will just hinder us." Edd looked at his long time friend as if he grew a second head.

"They won't. Listen, Eddy, we don't know if they will hinder us or not. They can have skills that we need. Plus they are desperate. If they did barely survive then they won't survive once we leave them." Edd argued.

"Have you forgotten those other guys. Each time we have new people over, some type of trouble happens that puts everyone back at the cabin in danger." Eddy spoke no lies. Each time they did offer shelter something bad did happen and did put them all in danger.

"Then lets not forget our food shortage. Four days of food we have left, probably lees now. Three more mouths to feed will only make it worse. Probably make it two days worth of food left!" Eddy put up another good point. Edd was on the fence about it now. He felt he needed to do something. Then he realized something. They were people. They were survivors. They shouldn't be at each others throats, instead they should be helping one another. It was common sense. They all had a cause to work towards: survival.

"Eddy, I have not forgotten the others. I still remember to this day of what happen. But we can't do this. We are human, they are human. We need to work together. In addition, look at all the food in the truck and in your bag. Plus the stashes of food that we found on our way to the mall, we can give them shelter. Just the food in the truck will add on to a weeks worth of food for us. We can let them come!" Eddy looked ready to argue again.

"If something happens, _if _something happens, then I will take responsibility. I will suffer the consequences, okay? Can we agree to that?" Edd asked. Eddy always had trusting issues. He barely trusted his own family. He trusted him and Ed, but that was it. There was some trust between him and the others, but it would take more years for them to really earn his trust. Eddy wanted to argue. He opened his mouth, then grounded them together and gave an angry sigh.

"Fine. Something happens it's all on you Double D." Eddy put his trust in his friend on the matter. Edd was smart. Despite himself feeling that he was wrong, Eddy felt that Edd was making something of a right decision that would be proven to be a right or wrong decision in the future.

"Thank you, Eddy." Edd put his hands on his best friend's shoulder with a light smile. Eddy still had a frown on his face. The two returned to Johnny and the three survivors.

"So do you guys want to join us? We have shelter, protection, food, clean water and others at our base." The leader asked the group. The three looked unsure. Obviously, they didn't seem so happy to be in a group since their last one was torn apart.

"Is it really safe where you are?" Techlin asked with expressed worry. The three locals felt that Techlin was the one in charge of what was left. He was worried for his friends' safety.

"Yes, we are secure." Johnny answered. He was at the door to the hallway. Looking out for the Soulless. The three looked at each other and came together and started to whisper. After five minutes, they stopped and looked at Edd and Eddy.

"Fine, we would like to take shelter with you guys. We need a place to settle down." Techlin said and held out his hand. Edd took hold of the hand with a firm grasp. They shook.

"Then welcome." Eddward Silver greeted with a smile. Techlin smiled back.

"So are you the one in charge?" Callie asked remembering how he silenced Eddy who was about to protest about standing down.

"Yes." The leader answered.

"Okay. Then we follow your rules and what you say goes." Techlin declared. Edd could feel that Techlin was someone who was loyal.

"Good." Eddy said roughly. He was on the truck and loading the rest of the food into his bag.

"Man, first food and now this, we can't thank you guys enough." Dante sounded really grateful.

"Thank us by not slowing us down, pull your own weight, and you stay." Eddy, again, said rudely. The distrust was evident in his voice.

"Okay. Uh...you need our resume on our skills or something?" Techlin asked. Edd didn't want to seem like it that way. He just wanted to get to know them and figure it out. On the other hand, Edd thought, he offered so why should he not accept?

"That would be nice." Edd saw that Eddy was going to take a few minutes to load all the items. He can feel the bag on his shoulders weighing him down. He sucked it up. No pain no gain.

"I am a mechanic, sort of, my dad owned an auto repair shop before this shit storm happened. I know my way around the engine and could help with anything mechanical if needed. I am also an inventor. Made this beauty myself." Dante said with a low tone and quick voice. He held out his weapon. It was almost like a gun, it had a trigger then six metal tubes that acted as barrels of a the gun thing. There were sharp sticks in the metal tubes. The body of the weapon looked like it was from an old car part. It was crudely put together, as if in a hurry. They could always use more craftsmen in the group, especially if he had experience with cars. The genius also noted that there was a quiver full of sharp sticks on Dante's back.

"I am a pretty good shot with this crossbow and some experience with foraging." Callie said. Edd gave some thought to that. Besides Johnny, none of them knew much about the natural resources across the land. Johnny only knew medical plants and they weren't really edible. Callie would be useful. He took note of the twp packs of bolts on her belt.

"I am a good fighter. I use this beautiful spear and I'm good with it. " Techlin held out the spear he had. "Besides that, I just do any physical task you need. Kind of a handy man I guess."

"How good are you with the spear?" Johnny asked from the door.

"I used to trained in martial arts with it. I was intermediate level and told that I was a natural with it. " Techlin informed. That was good. They were always in need of fighters.

All three seemed to have good skills. Each had something they needed. He had to see them in action some time. A boy who could work an engine, a girl who can forage, and a boy who was skilled in fighting. They were good additions. Eddy stood with his duffel bag full.

"I got all the food." Eddy said and got out of the truck. Double D glanced to a window that was just over the garage door. It was getting dark and so was the room. They needed to leave quick before it was too dark. The clouds haven't lighten up so no moon light to help them. Then there were the Soulless they had to worry about.

"Alright, lets leave. Just follow us." The leader said and was heading to the door.

"We aren't taking the car? There's gas." Dante said with confusion.

"We have no use for cars, too noisy. We travel on foot." Eddy said. They once tried to use a car and it only served to attract more of them. It also broke down in the middle of the street when they used it.

"This thing is almost like a tank though. We can plow through the Soulless like nothing." Callie said.

"I know, where we going is not suited for cars. So no point in taking it. And this is one of our rules." The three looked a little scared at Edd's word. They seemed fearful of getting kicked out so early.

"Just stay silent, low and pay attention. We have to move fast, we don't want to be out here when it is dark." Johnny said. The three listened and nodded. Edd nodded back and they started to move. They avoided the mud. The group of six went out through the back. The Soulless were gathering around the backyard.

Edd attacked with his bow and killed one, Techlin came from behind and pierced one through the skull. He redrew, spun and stabbed another in the chest, holding it at bay as it clawed at him. It went down with a crossbow bolt in its head courtesy of Callie.

A Soulless was about to get to Eddy, who had stabbed two Soulless in the head by now, until it was pierced by a stick. Dante smiled at Eddy with one of the six barrels empty, who could only grunt in response. The Soulless were cleared. Eddy took lead and lead the others. In a short amount of time and with the sun now on the horizon they made it in the forest. It was becoming pitch black. The three new comers were going to get lost, the three realized. Johnny told them quietly to hold hands and he took Techlin's hand. Unaware to them all the glowing eyes of a Soulless that was on a rooftop stared at their retreat.

Eddy and Double D continued on and Johnny followed dragging the three with him. A few minutes pass and it was pitch dark. They were becoming wet due to the dew on the plants and their shoes were slowed by the muddy ground. They still pushed onward. There were a few slips, but they recovered and soon they were at the perimeter. Eddy could tell from Ed's trip wire. Eddy held out his flashlight and pointed behind him. Edd was covered in some mud and so was everyone else. They all were a little wet. The three newcomers were a little tired. Eddy frowned. They were probably a little out of shape or they could be out of energy from lack of food.

Eddy moved. He stepped around slowly as to not set off the traps, Double D followed in the same manner. Johnny told them, quickly, of the traps that were laid about and how they had to step in the right place to not set them. Johnny went down the path and the three followed as best as they could. Johnny had good eyesight in the dark and glanced over his shoulder to see the others following him pretty well. They could see in the dark too. A good five minutes passed and they made it with Eddy and Edd who were waiting.

"Now we are safe." Edd informed the three. They look relieved, slightly. They all continued in a walk. They came upon the edge of the cabin. They could all make out a fire. Edd, Eddy and Johnny gave the signal whistle that they had arrive. They emerged from the bushes. The sight of their friends around the fire, they had turned and most greeted with big smiles at seeing them safe. Then the smiles vanished and were replaced with hostility and worry when they saw Techlin, Dante, and Callie.

"Who are they?" Nazz asked.

"We'll explain everything after we clean them up." Eddy said. He could barely stand the smell of the three and himself.

**After an hour of getting** clean up and giving the newcomers a new set of clothes. Edd took the time to inform them of their encounter and the joining of the three in their group. There were protest due to food, but they were silenced once they saw the large pile of food they had gotten and being told of more in some houses they would get tomorrow. Techlin, Callie, and Dante came out in a new set of clothes and cleaned up. Techlin was Caucasian and his hair black. He was wearing a set of Kevin's clothes. A red shirt and blue jeans and regular shoes. Dante had black hair and tan skin a set of Eddward's clothes. A green shirt, black shorts, and running shoes. Callie used Nazz's clothes, she had to give her a little bit of a bigger size due to her breast being slightly bigger than her own. It was a blue shirt and black jeans and shoes. Her hair was indeed red and her freckles more prominent.

They sat around the fire with the three new member being introduced to everyone and everyone introducing themselves to them. It was a little weird. Food was cooking and Nazz was gone inside looking for three more bowls. There were a few pots on the fire being held over a sticks. Tonight was rice, cabbage, and rabbit and squirrel meat for dinner. It was a lot considering most of them skipped lunch.

"You guys have a nice home." Dante said in the silence.

"Thanks, my dad owned it." Kevin said. He had come here most of his summers.

"How long did you guys stay here?" Callie asked.

"Two years and half, things were getting troubling in the neighborhood so we came here instead." Ed said. He had pulled Eddy and Double D to the side and talked to them about what happen. He liked the three, new faces was always something he liked. The three nodded.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Sarah asked them.

"Actually, we just met technically, we were in a large group. But that group formed over a month to the size it was. I came about the time they left and, well, we saw each other and never really got to know each other. This past week this is the closest we ever got. Hell, all I really know is their names and hwo they fight and survive." Techlin explained.

"It is true," Callie said. "everyone in our group barely talked to each other. It was mutual really, we all thought strength in numbers and that was it. Everyone fended for themselves."

To the seven present, it was surprising. It was stark contrast to them. They relied on each other due to different skill sets. It helped that they all knew each other beforehand.

"Did anyone in your group know each other before the outbreak?" Johnny asked.

"No. We were all strangers. Dante had his dad, my family was long dead and so was Callie's. The only time we worked together was when there was a horde blocking our way. Whatever you got, it was yours and no one else." Techlin told the seven.

"So, you lost your dad?" Edd asked the mechanic's boy. Dante seemed to be a silent person when around a large group. Dante confirmed it with a nod. "I am sorry for your lost."

"It's fine." It was quick and barely audible. Edd understood and didn't investigate further.

"But how is it out there?" Rolf asked. None of them have been out of the city. They knew the viral outbreak was global.

"Not good. Not good." Callie said. The horrors she has seen. It was definitely not good.

"Is there any form of government or military? There has to be some of those damn congressmen or governors still kicking." Eddy said. It was one thought he had. They all had money and money could buy protection.

"Nothing. Before the blackouts, the news people were on air for a few hours. They were barricaded inside. They were talking about military actions being made, but nothing for sure. They said the White House was being invaded by the things, or Soulless, then they lost contact with their contacts on the outside. Everything was going to Hell, essentially. They were weeping and there was banging on the door. Then the banging was louder and the Soulless broke through and the news was off the air with the screaming and roaring in the background." Techlin said.

"It is best to assume that there is no one coming to help or any place for us to be safe. If there was, then we would have heard something about it now." Dante spoke.

"True." Eddy said.

"If you guys really want to know about San Fran, let me tell you, it was not pretty especially with so many people. Screaming and chaos, fires, things were fucking exploding. Hell, people mostly died form the accidents and car crashes before being eaten." Callie said. Making extravagant hand motions to symbolize the explosions.

"Same thing. Shit started to go down, fires were mostly in downtown though." Johnny said. It was at this time that Nazz joined them and served the food. Dinner was in silence. Yet the leader had to break the silent ritual of Once finished, Edd took the time to inform them of the mutations.

"As suspected, Ed was right. There were mutations among the Soulless. The journal is being passed on so you guys can see it. The first one is probably the most horrifying of the three. We call the Beacon, it uses its scream as a primary way of attack. Since it is a scream, and Soulless are attracted by noise, it attracts the Soulless and it and multiple others of it kind are the cause of that scream we heard a few days ago and earlier today. It also the cause of the massive horde me and Eddy saw and the horde at the Peach Grand Mall." Everyone passed. They were scared too, just as much as Eddy, Johnny and Edd were and it was just a sketch.

"The next one is what we call Agile. It is fast. Really fast. It is able to scale walls at unnatural speeds and has long claws that we guess could cut through skin and bone rather easily. We also assume that it is fast on land and could be trouble especially since it could ambush us from multiple angles or just catch us when we are least expected a speeding Soulless to come after us." The reaction was some fear. They all knew that the Soulless were easy to dodge since they were slow. Now that there was a fast one, it only brought that old fear back. Ed sighed tiredly, he needed to add strops to them specifically. Faster traps and higher up.

"The last one is what we call Alpha, it is the strongest and most feared of the Soulless. They acted strange around it, avoiding it to great lengths, as if it was a leader. Clearly, its greatest attribute is its strength. The tail is used for piercing or for guarding its rear. We don't know how strong it is, but it could be even stronger than Ed. I also put in the consideration that Soulless don't feel pain or will stop for something. We can assume that they have the same mentality of endless pursuit until their target is lost or they are put down. These mutations are trouble. When we go out, tell someone you are leaving. Maybe bring a second person as back up. We need to be on guard until then. That's all for that." Edd finished.

"Just great more trouble." Kevin muttered.

"Nazz, how is our food supply now?" Double D had a small smile at that and so did Nazz.

"Well with the new supplies, I say we added a good week or two to our supply. So we can rest easy for now. As always, we can still use more. Storage is halfway full." Nazz informed. Her stress seemed to be gone in just a complete hour.

"And smary Ed-boy, Rolf is sorry to inform you, but the soil is gone for us. Rolf tried and tried and only got a few cabbages, squash, some corn,tomatoes, and a few carrots for our storage. But that is all Rolf could acquire. No more farming." Everyone that grew up with Rolf knew that he had given up his third-person talk a long time ago and only did so at times of anger or sadness.

"It's fine Rolf and don't worry. Callie here say she is good at foraging so maybe you can work with her to go out and find some food." Double D said. Callie waved at Rolf with a friendly smile. He had one himself but it dropped at the thought of losing what he had left from his family.

"It's ten: 'o' nine. I'm headed to bed." Kevin said after looking at his pocket watch. He left for the cabin. Rolf did so as well said goodnight to everyone.

"And Rolf will wake Callie at the crack of dawn, so Rolf suggest fine lady to hit the sack before it becomes the tip of the shrouded night." Rolf said and left for sleep.

"Where do we sleep?" Techlin asked.

"There was a slight bedding problem. There is one room free and no other place but the sofas and recliners. You guys can decide who sleeps where." Eddy said and left, saying that he was taking over Night watch.

"Callie, you can share with me. Have some girl-time." Nazz offered with a kind smile.

"I would like that, will there be room in the bed?" Callie asked.

"Definitely, come and help me gather and clean these pots and dishes then we'll head in the room." Nazz said.

"Can I come?" Sarah asked excitedly.

"Sure, the more the merrier." Nazz said.

The two beautiful young women and Sarah took the pots and dishes and headed inside. Johnny was next after he took seconds and left with a content sigh. That left Ed, Techlin, Dante, and Edd.

"They're a nice bunch." Techlin said.

"They are. Make sure you guys get to know them a little bit." Edd said.

"Do you guys have books to read or something. I like to read myself to sleep." Dante said. Ed nodded.

"We have books laying around. Go to Double D's room to choose a book, he has the most books." Ed suggested.

"I'll take you." Edd said gladly and guided the boy in the cabin. Now it was Ed and Techlin.

"Well Techlin, it is time to head for bed, I suppose." Ed said. He gave a yawn to indicate his fatigue of the day.

"I guess, it has been a long time since I have slept peacefully." Techlin said.

"I could see what you mean. You guys came all the way from San Francisco and having to dodge Soulless, I wouldn't be able to sleep easily on those nights. But trust me, you're safe, I made the traps myself, nothing is getting through tonight. Plus we have Eddy, who has the best eyesight out of all of us, watching for the night. You can rest easy." Ed reassured. Techlin smiled at that.

"Thanks, I needed that." Techlin was very tense. It has been many nights where he lay awake either due to fear, hunger, or both. Now his muscles relaxed.

"No problem. We need to be friendly if you guys are going to stay. Come on, lets go bucko." Ed said while he put the fire out. Techlin went to the door and Ed followed as the fire died down and was left small red spots with smoke going up. Once inside, Ed locked the door with the multiple locks that kept the door secure. There were candles that illuminated the rooms. The living room was such that. There was a clatter in the kitchen and the sound of female voices. The kitchen was to the right of the front door and the living room was on the left.

"Good night." Ed said and headed for his and Sarah's room.

"Night." Techlin saw that there were a blanket on the recliner and he took to it. He blew the candles out around him and laid down. He was tense at first, scared of sleep. But after being fed good after a week of no food, traveling hundreds of miles, experience his group getting massacred, and sleepless nights, it all came back at him full force and he couldn't help falling sleep.

"Thank Edd." Dante thanked as he found a book on the history of cars. It was pretty heavy for him. Double D waved him off.

"No problem and call me Double D, my name has two D's in it." The leader corrected. Dante nodded.

"Let me show you the room upstairs." Edd told the boy and lead him to the room on the right of the ladder to the balcony. It was Jimmy's room. He didn't want to do it, but he couldn't just give them a couch when there was a bed for at least one of them to sleep. Even if the room once belonged to his friend.

"Here you go, uh, goodnight." Edd said and Dante entered the room. He was the first to enter the room since Jimmy's death. He didn't even know Jimmy. Edd looked inside and saw Jimmy's room. It was the same as it was, some dust had build and there were a few books on the bed. Candles were still where they were. The bed was ruffled as if someone had gotten out of the bed for a day. Edd felt the sadness he had felt come back. It was left as if Jimmy wasn't dead. As if the boy would come back.

"Goodnight." Dante said and headed inside. Eddward felt that he shouldn't let just anyone in to Jimmy's room. But he couldn't hold on to the past. Jimmy was gone. He accepted it. Giving his room will just be proof of that point. Dante closed the door and left the seventeen year old. Eddward Silver sighed. He went to his room and grabbed his journal, he had a lot to write. He heard footsteps and giggling pass his door. Nazz, Sarah, and Callie were getting along. The leader could hear them step up the stairs and Nazz's door closing.

He also heard footsteps, heavy ones. It was Ed. The strong teen had a habit of checking everything and making sure things were secure and blew out the candles and lamps around the home.

"_Today has been very eventful. Me, Johnny, and Eddy did head out as plan. There was a massive horde in the streets still and we almost lost hope for the day, I was close to saying for us to turn back. I figured that we had to find that scream, to be sure of our enemy, to make sure that scream did not come from them or something. It was fear of being in the unknown, I believe, once again. Like years ago, we were clueless and there has been many close chances that nearly cost our lives. One of them took one of our own, we didn't want to get caught off guard again. We wanted to at least be one step ahead of them. I am getting sidetracked again. So what happen was that there were gunshots, Eddy caught on to it before us and, I think, he said it was about eight hundred meters or further. It was a lot of gunshots, but nonetheless we saw the horde start to move West. It was something that was lucky for us. After it ended, we crossed the street and ended up in a home. We found a lot of stuff there. More knives for my personal collection and materials that we needed. Johnny had found a truck, it was large and functional, nearly fixed and had tons of food for us. Another lucky strike for us."_ Edd saw a trend. Two times were they were just lucky and at the right place at the right time. They could have arrived at a different time before the gunshots and the horde could have been back, or they could have ended up in a different home and not be aware of the staff.

"_We had some trouble figuring out what to do with that amount of food. We gained a prospect of other survivors coming due to the dead woman's death being recent and the gunshots. We weren't so sure of survivors for the last three years. It is surprising to see so many activities of people in this city. Maybe the human race has hope for survival. We compromised on taking some of the food and leaving the rest, we still had to get to our own destination. So a couple of hours we headed to the Southeast, finding resources in other homes along the way with a few having food for pick-up. Finally, we ended up at Peach Grand Mall. We were across the highway and we observed the massive horde that has accumulated there. We had found mutations, of course Eddy was the first one to notice with his superior eyesight, and it was horrible the first one. We named it Beacon, it was just horrendous, its image has been etched into this book and engraved in my memory. It attracts the Soulless to it. Then there was the Agile, something I feared for simple the way it acted. The Agile are fast, able to climb walls in no time, and probably able to run just as fast on land. We had to be careful about them and the next one. We called it Alpha. The name says it all. It was the one in charge as Soulless feared it. It has brute strength as its advantage and would be just as much trouble as the Agiles and Beacons. They were all there at the mall. We had assumed that survivors were there and dug in. The Soulless would have moved on if there wasn't something in there that they want. They only wanted our flesh. It was always what they wanted."_ Edd cracked his fingers and neck. The tension was getting to him.

"_So after observing them, we were about to leave before we heard them scream. The Beacons screamed and it reminded us of the fear, the cold feeling we all felt days ago. Absolute fear it was. But it was stronger, I was fairly shaken to my core and I think Johnny and Eddy were too. It was the downpour of rain that moved us from our paralysis and we took shelter inside a home. There was a family that had committed suicide together, Johnny threw up, had a weak stomach for the sight. We left and settled in a boy's room. We discussed the mutations and gave them names. We talked long enough for the rain to lighten up for us to see. We backtracked to the home with the food and had an unpleasant encounter. We saw dead Soulless that were not our kills and the home had mud tracks. It lead into the garage and we followed with trepidation on high, after a scuffle we saw that it was three survivors, around my age, it was a crazy event and lots of shouting and it happened fast. But we came to peaceful terms, though with much reluctance. They were in need of food, saying that have not ate in a week and they were dirty, bloody, and smelled horrible. It were two boys and one girl. We said that the food was ours, I don't want to sound childish, but we found it first. Plus they didn't know it was ours or the woman's or if the woman was one of our own. We did take advantage of it." _The young man had to let a chuckle out.

"_We gave them some cans and they scarfed it down in seconds, disgusting really. They thanked us. It was at this time that I asked where they were headed. Techlin, the one who seemed in charge, told us they were heading North. No specific destination at all. They were going to stay at some building downtown and keep heading North. I offered them residence and Eddy was not so happy. Pulled me to the side and argued. I convinced him. Eddy had given up on accepting new people. Bad things happen when we allow others to join us and I couldn't blame him. But I saw that the three of them had barely survived on their own, they needed help and I was not going to let fear bring us apart from that. We are human, we have to look for each other. Why fight anymore? Why stand separated? We need to come together and fight the Soulless. Or stand alone and let the human race die out. I became responsible for the three. It was all on me, Eddy stated. I would make him see they were a good add-on to the group. Especially for the skills the three had."_ Edd saw a flicker of light and looked to his personal candle on his dresser. All the others were out snuffed out and he left that one on. It was tiny. He needed to replace it soon. Edd opened the drawer and got out a candle. He lit it with the dying flame and a new light was produced and replaced the old candle.

"_The survivors came from San Francisco, walked all the way from there to here. Were in a large group before, about fourteen, only those three survived. Sad really. I felt for them. Like I said, two boys and one girl, all around my age. One was Techlin, he seems to be a good guy. A nice attitude, loyal, cautious, caring for friends. He claims that he is a good with a spear even said he had training with it before the Outbreak and a handy man. I need to figure out a name for him. A simple one like the others. Then there is Dante. Dante is a quiet person. Doesn't talk much. He probably has a great mind. He was able to make a dangerous weapon from random parts and has a history as a mechanic with his late father once being one. Dante would be with me and Eddy most of the time if he was good at making things. We can use him for if we need a car or to fix things. A new mind will offer a new side of most topics on the inventor's table. Then there is Callie, she looks cute, almost on the same level as Nazz now that I think about it. She uses a crossbow and says she is good, I believe that too, saw her in action for a little bit. Hopefully, she lives up to it. Callie told us that she was good at foraging so she will be with Rolf early in the morning. The three of them are good people, I can tell. Their skills will be handy as well." _Edd thought about something else to add.

"_The only other thing is that we lost our farming resource, probably forever. Rolf did pull out some of the last few crops for our food supply. Rolf was sad and probably still is. His family were farmers, in a way, it was the only connection to his family. It was now gone. Everyone have their way of keeping remembrance of their family. I keep my family blade as my connection, Eddy has a special flintlock pistol that he kept in the tree house that was passed on to him, Ed held the responsibility of protecting his sister and wore the S.W.A.T uniform that his dad worn, Nazz keeps a necklace with a locket that belonged to her mother. It had a family photo of them when Nazz was five. Kevin's way is the assault rifle, his dad bought it for Kevin for when they went on hunts, Johnny remembered his family through his medical knowledge and further study, Sarah hanged on to Ed as her protector, Jimmy once had an urn that his parents owned and now it was buried with what was left of him in his grave on the side of the cabin along with other graves. I hope Rolf will find a new way to remember his family and I wonder what our new friends will have to remember theirs."_ Edd felt that he added enough and went to end it. He had put the date, which was November 6th, 2019, a day after the three year mark. So much had happen in that spam of time.

Edd flipped through the journal and to a page that had a list. The names were in list form and the page had more room for more and the three pages after it that were intentionally left unmarked. The names were off his and his friends, there were four scratched out names. Those belonged to Jimmy, Canel, Brick, and Tuss. The four survivors they lost and date they died. Next to their names were a title, or the date of death, something that Edd called them due to their skills and had it in all caps. Next to his name was 'LEADER' , Eddy's title was 'MARKSMAN', Ed's title was 'SENTINEL', Kevin's was 'HUNTER', Nazz's title was 'CHEF', Johnny's title was 'DOCTOR', Rolf's title was 'FARMER', Sarah's title was 'DISCIPLE' for her want to learn their skills, Jimmy's title was once 'ASSISTANT' and now had December 16th, 2018. Brent and Tuss had the same date of September 10th, 2017, Canel had the date September 24th, 2017.

Edd debated adding Techlin, Dante, and Callie's name. Eddy's word came at him from hours before. Of how they may become dead the next day or just a week from now. Double D added them. He had hope they would last for a while, maybe last to old age and this virus long gone. He added titles to Callie, who was 'FORAGER' and Dante who was 'MECHANIC'. Techlin was still under debate.

The young man yawned. He needed to sleep. He closed his journal put it to his side. He blew the candle out and smelled the smoke. Eddward liked the smell. For some reason, it relaxed him and made it easier for him to succumb to slumber.

**Eddy yawned. The sun was** start to rise in the horizon. He saw the sky get lighter and turn a shade of blue and the clouds turn to a lighter color. The clouds were clearing out. The marksman guess it would be cloudy or clear day. Eddy was glad. He was not a night person, but needed to stay up as to see if anything weird happened.

"_Plus I can barely sleep with three strangers in our home that could kill us."_ The seventeen year old was still furious at this friend for letting the three join them so easily. One minute they were at each others throat and another he offers them shelter? It made him furious. Eddy wasn't dumb either, he knew he had trust issues with how and where he was raised for most of his life and felt that it had something to do with him not wanting them. He felt that a betrayal will happen.

"_Hell, I felt Double D and Ed would back stab me for a few years." _Eddy had to admit. He only trusted those two and that was as far as it went. _"Then they said of how their old group worked. They all barely trusted each other and so what if they don't trust us? I can just feel them putting all of us in danger."_

"_Dante and Callie are just regular people. Like they were just that. I saw them all the time downtown. But Techlin? Something rubs me wrong about him. He just got so friendly so quick. I bet he is planning something. Probably going to start a mutiny, kill off Double D, Ed and me and take charge."_ Eddy felt paranoid. It came with living in the slums of the city and fear that someone would stab or shoot you for no reason or for the wrong reason.

Eddy wanted to just watch them. Catch them with just one slip up and get rid of them either the good way or the bad way. He would prove Double D wrong. Prove that new people were never a good thing and only caused more trouble. Then he remembered the agreement. Eddy was not innocent by a long shot, he had stole, fought, sold drugs, scammed, and much more. One thing that he did have was that he always honored his deal. He couldn't make money by being dishonest and would most likely be dead if he had been. He felt that Edd would come around and see what he did once Techlin, Callie, or Dante screwed up. It would be on him. But again, Eddy wasn't stupid, he was going to keep a close eye on all three of their guest. They had to prove their worth to him. It wasn't mandatory or required but they had to earn it without the knowledge. If they did know then they would just play the act to get his respect. They had to earn it, raw, just like everyone else.

Eddy felt something land on his head. The marksmen was mad, figuring it was an early bird, and got out a small towel in his pocket and wiped it off. The seventeen year old looked at the towel and saw blood. So with a confused sight, he looked up and he saw the glowing eyes of a Soulless. And he saw the sharp blades of an Agile and saw blood dripping from its mouth of sharp, jagged and twisted teeth. The Agile pounced, Eddy yelled and got out his pistol and fired.

**Kevin Hass has been awaken** by many things in his life. From his nightmares that would haunt him to his water being dumped on him. Many things and one time it was a gunshot. A gunshot terrified him when he was just five and he never forgot the sound. His father had tripped and landed on his gun. Somehow the gun fired. No one was hit. Kevin could never forgot it and heard it more and more as time went on with his survival. He hated the loud noise.

That was what had awaken Kevin. The sound gunfire and faster than he had ever done he grabbed his assault rifle. Two more gunshots rang and it was close. Really close. Above his head close.

"_Eddy!"_ Kevin realized and head upstairs, still in his pajamas. Ed was already out of his room and in his armor. He always got up early to check the traps for anything. It would be the one time out of three that he would check them if he wasn't busy with anything else. He too was puzzled and alarmed as he got his riot shield and baton, the shotgun was on his back. Kevin flew by the Edward Green and headed for the balcony. Nazz was obviously awoken and saw Kevin running up the stairs. The hunter saw in his peripheral vision the blonde go back in her room. The eighteen year old saw the open door and ran up the balcony and heard more gunshots fire.

The first sight was a body at the door. Kevin thought of Eddy and heard gunshots fire from Eddy who was at the railing of the balcony and firing into the trees. Kevin noticed that Eddy had blood on his face.

"Eddy, what the hell are you doing?" Kevin roared. The idiot was attracting them.

"It's a horde! They got pass the traps!" That struck Kevin hard. After so long of an attack on the cabin, it was happening now, again.

**Now that is over. Yeah, it is going to be good.**

**I know that this chapter was longer than usual and that is only because after hours from uploading the last chapter. I was done. I was literally done with this chapter that fast. It was suppose to end before Eddy's part came up. It was at that time that I realized that I was finished and saw it was like one in the morning. So I added the part of the assault as to give hint as to what the next chapter would be. **

**I know that the chapters haven't really been the most exciting and I would like to clarify some things. There will be those times where I would not have action and focus on their lives in the world and not them interacting with the world. From here, there will be a lot more action and there will be those "boring" chapters. It all ties in with the fact that this is a story, it will be like that. Just want to say that.**

**Now, I leave you and I am going to wait at least a day to get to the next chapter. I do not want to do another thing like that. So stay safe, keep being awesome, keep reading and writing as you are all part of the Revolution.**

**NEXT CHAPTER!:**

**Chapter 5: The Assault **


	5. The Assault

**Hello and Welcome to Chapter 5 of the Outbreak Chronicles.**

**Okay guys, we are back and powerful. I waited a little bit before bring this chapter out and about. So far, everything is going well with this story. Still going strong with a lot of support and thanks for that. Sometimes, remakes are not really that well accepted especially to those who love the original one and question why the hell the guy stopped it.**

**Speaking of old stories, World of the Dead, the first story I have ever written and completed, is still somehow growing. I actual find it a pleasant surprise to see people favorite the story. I cannot express the joy it brings me to see that people are still looking to it as a source of entertainment. It kinda made me feel horrible for leaving the story like I did. But it is done. I mean, sure I can go back and I can continue on any day of the week, it is just that I was being too over the place with that story. Everything was not suppose to be how it was in the sense that I was getting so swamped with everything that I was losing the story. I was losing the image that I wanted. It also revolved around others ideas more often than my own ideas and I didn't like that. So when people ask me if I can add this from this game or from the last story or from this show or from whatever, I feel that I can't do that with this story. I need to use my ideas. MY ideas.**

**But that doesn't mean I will avoid them. I look at shows like The Walking Dead, Attack On Titan, play games such as Dead Rising series, Thief, Battlefield series, and all that good stuff. I draw inspiration from them. I look at their things and I say to myself "What can I do that is different from them?" So you can recommend these shows, games, movies and the such and I will look to it for inspiration. That will be appreciated instead of asking me to add this and that. It is not tha story. So with that, I thank you and lets get on with the chapter and to avoid confusion, here are the ages of the characters as of this chapter and birthdays.**

**Eddward Silver/Double D- 17 DOB: January 12, 2002**

**Ed Green- 18 DOB: May 11, 2001 **

**Eddy Johnson-17 DOB: February 4, 2002**

**Kevin Hass- 17 DOB: November 1, 2002**

**Nazz Vesta-16 DOB: November 13, 2002**

**Sarah Green-12 DOB: December 14, 2006**

**Johnny Fullet-15 DOB: August 3, 2004**

**Techlin-17 DOB: December 1, 2001**

**Callie-17 DOB: September 24, 2002**

**Dante- 17 DOB: July 7, 2002**

**Rolf Schäfer-19 DOB: June 5, 2000**

**Chapter 5: The Assault**

**Kevin was still shaken** at Eddy's word. A horde? How is possible? What happened to Ed's traps? Did the mutations do something? All of these questions were part of the whirlwind of questions in the Hunter's mind. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sight of an Agile jumping towards Eddy and would have killed if he had not shot it in the head. The body hit the ground and Eddy turned from his shooting into the forest to see the body of the Agile behind him.

"Thanks!" Eddy said before he started to shoot again. Kevin had no idea how he could see and shoot. It was still dark. Kevin joined him and started to shoot at the glowing pairs as they approached. In the morning darkness, he could see many of the glowing eyes of the Soulless as they approached. It was a big horde.

"How the hell did they get pass the traps? And why did they get so close with you on watch?" Kevin didn't like that the one with the best eyes in the group let such a big problem come to their doorstep.

"I don't know. I didn't see no glowing eyes. They just popped up from nowhere!" Eddy responded and reloaded his two pistols in hand. Edd arrived.

"Eddy! What the hell?" He sounded furious.

"Don't start Double D! They just came from nowhere okay?" Eddy shouted. Other shots were being fired. The others were shooting from the downstairs.

"How could you-" Double D, who had his bow in hand, drew the arrow and fired when an Agile had leaped into the air and grabbed hold of Eddy's arm and pulled. Eddy screamed as his skin was ripped on his left arm and left four deep gashes. The Agile died with an arrow in it's head and fell back to the bottom.

"Damn it!" Eddy said through the pain and held his bleeding arm.

"He's losing a lot of blood quickly." Kevin took off his shirt and cover the wound. The shirt quickly became damp with the Marksman's blood.

"Take him inside and get Johnny to fix him up. Now!" Edd was now more furious from the situation and his best friend getting injured. Kevin nodded and took to the boy with his right arm around his shoulders and headed inside. More Agile popped up and Edd drew an arrow and killed one and barely ducked from a tackle from an Agile that landed and its claws scrapped the wood. It died with an arrow in the head. Edd fell back into the cabin, ran to the bottom of the stairs and closed the door. The force of the push from the other side was enough to push him away from the door, luckily, the leader recovered and pushed the door back close. The action caught two arms of the Agile that were scratching up the wood deeply as they try to free their arms. Due to being decaying flesh and their frail arms, the limbs were broke off and fell to the ground, twitching slightly. Double D heard a screech.

The seventeen year old held the door as the Agiles pushed harder. There had to be a lot, he figured. Or they were incredibly strong. The gunshots from downstairs were still going and Eddward Silver looked over his shoulder to see Johnny come up and go to his room, bring a bunch of medical supplies and heading downstairs in a hurry and his shirt stained with blood. Kevin came up another minute later and saw Edd's current problem. Kevin made way to Jimmy's room and got out the dresser and moved it to Edd's position.

"Thank...you." Edd was panting at holding back the Agile. They banged against the door still and made growling noises. They were strong and Edd felt his arms to be weak. He grabbed his bow off the ground and went downstairs. He had to get over it. Being weak was never going to get them out of the situation. Downstairs was like a bunker. Eddy was on the couch being tended to and a lot of blood around him and Johnny as he tried to stop the bleeding, Eddy was unconscious because of blood loss. Nazz and Rolf were shooting through the front window. Edd ran and looked through the defenseless hole and saw that the horde was indeed large and they were going around the home to find another entry point.

Edd went to his room and saw that there were some trying to get through. Double D grabbed his family blade, knocked over the books next to the window and ripped some pages on some, and stabbed through the holes and into the heads of the dead. He ignored the disgusting sound and blood that was on his blade that got on his clothes. He was use to it. More and more heads came to replace to ones he had killed. Eddward continued to stab, the pain from holding back Agiles from entering were still there, and doubled while he continued.

**Ed killed another Soulless** that tried to get through the windows of the kitchen. The strongest Ed reloaded his shotgun quickly. Two Soulless came through the window and two pumped shots later, they were back to being limp. The kitchen was quite big with a long table in the center. There were cabinets, a sink, counter and stove against the wall that had the windows. The Soulless had came in with great strength and their bodies were across the counter against the wall. It was the only window through the kitchen. Some of the Soulless were around floor, on the table, and a pool of blood was all over the floor and table. Seats were knocked down and broken and all Soulless had one distinct feature. Their skulls were caved in and Ed's baton was dripping with blood. His riot shield was on his back.

Ed put down another Soulless with it's head being blown off and spreading across the kitchen. Three came in after their comrade's death and Ed pulled the trigger and heard the shocking sound of click. No ammo. The three Soulless were closing in. Ed flipped the shotgun and grabbed the barrel of the double barrel shotgun and strung with great strength. At once, three heads were crushed, three bodies were sent flying to the wall to the left, and three Soulless were taken from this world. Ed switched the double barrel shotgun, slightly bent at the barrel and cracked at the wood end, for his riot shield in his left hand and baton in his right. The Sentinel went to the door and fell the bent down with the shield. The baton was posed to strike.

The Soulless charged. They came in a large group, about five. Ed gritted his teeth and looked through the glass of the helmet. They came with him and held them back. The Soulless were strong.

_"They still have the Night Effect on them!"_ Ed thought. The Soulless were stronger at night and despite it being around five in the morning, it was still in effect. Nonetheless, Ed held them back and with a heave he knocked them over. Ed quickly and ruthlessly charged and broke their skulls with his baton and most were pushed further into the wooden ground. More came in through the window and Ed charged with a battle cry. More skulls were crushed as the Soulless came in. Ed was being pushed back to the door. The sound of his friends still fighting. If he fell, they would be swarmed. Ed pushed back against the dozen Soulless.

"I will kill you all!" Ed said and started to bash their skulls in more. He shield bashed them away. He didn't let up. His family was in the other room and he will never let them die, he would need to be torn apart before that happens. He refused for it to happen. So with another shout, the sentinel continued his own battle against the dead, they tried to bite through the armor and it proved futile. It only made Ed angier and to kill them sooner. Ed closed the door and turned on the flashlights on his helmet. It illuminated his foes as they swarmed him. Ed continued. One more fell, two more skulls were crushed, three bodies, and more came. It seemed never ending.

The door that he closed just moments ago came open and a blood covered Techlin charged in. Techlin used his spear to stab at the dozen Soulless in the room. Ed resumed his own brutal assault. Techlin slashed and heads flew off, limbs torn, and dead lives ended. He wielded the spear with little effort and with a ferocity that matched Edwards. The two slowly pushed the horde back yet more Soulless flowed in like a flood.

**Callie was numb. The young** woman had felt that finally, they were safe. That they could rest easy for a while. She was foolish. That was the feeling that replaced that sense of security she had build when she and her traveling companions came with the leader, Johnny, and Eddy, when they saw the traps, when they saw how the group had survived, and now it was all compromised.

Callie put another bolt and killed another Soulless from the window of Nazz's window. Sarah was hiding in the room with her. The Forager could only shake her head. The younger girl was not use to this because her crying while under the bed was evident of that. She was weak. She would die if she tried to fight. The girl, Callie felt, should have been ready for this. Obviously, she was not. The young woman shot another Soulless down. They had came around to the back and were trying to get through the back door. She can hear their moans, groans, and a banging from the hallway.

Callie shot a Soulless that was climbing the wall of the cabin. It was fast. Callie assumed it to be an Agile. Reload. She killed another. Reload. Killed another. Reload. Killed another. The process continued. It was tedious. But the Forager loved it. Less work for her. Suppressed gunshots, barely audible, erupted from downstairs and the Soulless she was shooting started to go down quicker and silently. Callie pulled back. The window was still open.

"Sarah." The little girl came from under the bed of Nazz Vesta shaking and tears coming down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Callie asked the younger girl. Like a mother, she wiped the tears off of the young girl's face but were replaced with another stream.

"B-b-because I-I-I'm scared." Sarah stuttered through sobs. Callie hugged the girl and felt her shirt become damp.

"You shouldn't be scared Sarah. You need to be brave." Sarah heard those words before. The same words that came from everyone. That she herself needed to stop being scared.

"B-b-but what if something happens to Ed, or Double D, or Kevin, Rolf-" A fresh wave of cries and sobs came. There were so much going on. The shooting, the banging at the door, the sound of the dead just on their door step, the fear she felt when her parents died and the sadness from the death of her best friend came to her at once. Sarah was terrified that she would lose them.

"Hey, hey, they aren't going to die. No one here is going to die." Callie felt that she had to hold that in. She didn't know for sure if anyone would die or not. There were more dead and the guns wouldn't last forever. The sound will only attract more.

"Yes they are. There is too many of them. We all are going to die." Sarah cried harder and her her lose of hope made Callie hopeless at their chances of any of them surviving.

"No Sarah," Callie remembered the speech her father told her on his death bed when he was going to turn. Her only family member alive at that moment. The rest were eaten. "the day you die is when you lose hope. You lose hope, there will be no purpose to you living. Have hope. Everyone here is strong, strong enough to beat down anything in their path. Have hope. Humanity needs hope and it is our job to beat these hard times to show other humans that are still alive and those that pass on that there is hope for all of us. That the next day would not be our last, but the start of the day that we take back our homes and everything will belong to us that was taken since this outbreak, because we survived against this thing that has consumed our way of life." 

Callie had brought herself to tears. The words just etched in her memory and of how she was the one to make the final blow. How her father died by the gun in her hands and how she left herself in the world alone. It was two years ago, yet it was like she was still there. Sarah had calmed down, her tears flowed yet her sobs ceased. Callie recovered and stood. She went to window and looked down at the horde, now dead and no more coming. Callie moved back in and with her luck, avoided a strike from above that would have decapitate her. The young woman was tackled the second later and lose grip of her crossbow. Callie saw that she was now holding back a Soulless, it was an Agile, it swiped at her and Callie held it barely away from her face.

The Agile snarled and tried to claw her pretty face, the sharp bone like fingers were inches away and she could feel her arms receive the punishment of restraint and it left cuts on her arms. The limbs that were keeping her from death were weakening and would soon give in. Callie started to panic. She didn't want to die. Her voice became hitch, her mouth opened and she thought she screamed, nothing came out. Her eyes were widen and she saw the Agile made its mouth go to her arm and she screamed fearing her death and her life flashed. But it didn't get her. The snarls of the Agile ended and it fell limp on her body, the claws digging into the wooden floor.

The Forager moved quickly away and backed into the bed and saw her almost killer lying on the ground dead. A bolt in its head. Callie looked and saw a terrified Sarah, shaking and in stream of sweat and tears and holding Callie's crossbow. The weapon fell to the ground. Sarah looked to the older woman and saw her eyes wide, covered in sweat, blood on her arms, and her face, breathing heavily and looked just as terrified as her.

"C-C-Callie?" Sarah stuttered as the woman started to cry. The woman got up without warning and scared the little girl. Next to the window were three planks of wood, a hammer and nails. Immediately she used those tools to quickly seal the window back up. Once done, Callie fell to her knees. Still in her same condition.

"I-I-I-I almost g-g-g-got b-b-bitten." Callie said slowly and looked to her arms. She started to wipe it fiercely. Trying to see a bite wound and saw none. Some blood seeped from her wounds and started to cover her arms once again.

"W-w-what?" Sarah started to compose herself. Callie was not looking good.

"I almost got bitten." Callie said without a stutter. Voice void of emotion.

"C-Callie?" The emotionless tone scared the Green sibling. The woman in question only remained silent. She didn't move. Her breath was slowing down and again she stood albeit much slower than before. She went, her hair shadowing her eyes, and picked up her crossbow. Sarah caught a glimpse of her eyes. She saw the fury of a thousand lions.

"I refuse to die like that again. I won't die like _he _did. I will die old." Callie went from sniveling scared to furious demon quickly and it caught Sarah off guard at the anger in her words. She didn't know who _he _was, but she figured that he had pissed her off for something in the past. Callie went to the hall, the door was still being banged on and the dresser was starting to give way. Callie looked down from the railing of the stairs and saw Eddy on the couch and Johnny tending to him. But her eyes landed on Eddy's gun holster, still with two pistols. The girl ran and took them. Johnny protested.

"Woah, woah," Johnny said over the gunfire Rolf, Nazz, and joining them were Dante who had opened the door and started to fire his special weapon at the horde. "Eddy may be knocked out, but he will know someone touches his guns-!"

The warning was ignored and Callie took the a pistol and had her crossbow was left with one holster left empty and saw the pistol ammo on the same table and took it. The Forager went back up and went to the end of the hall. Directly across from the dresser that was about to crack. Sarah came out of Nazz's room and saw Callie and the door. She put two and two together and ran down the stairs. She came back, the protest of Johnny being heard again and a second later, Sarah joined her by her side.

"Sarah get back in the room. It is too dangerous." Callie's voice still contained anger in it. Sarah was still confused on why she was so angry.

"N-no. There is a lot through that door, you can't take them all on." Sarah said and held the gun with her small fingers that were still shaking. The door cracked and the dresser moved. Callie felt that it would be no point in arguing.

"If you are going to stay, steady your damn hands." Callie ordered. "Take deep breaths." Sarah seemed to know. Her brother was teaching her how to shoot a gun and always said for her to steady her hands through deep breaths. The firearm was heavy in her hands. The door one again gave the sound of wood being broken.

"Now just focus. Aim for the head. And when he see nothing come out then take that magazine," Callie pointed to the one on the ground in front of the girl. Callie's were on her side and held down by her pajama pants given to her from Nazz. She only had two plus the one in the gun. Sarah had one and the one in the gun as well.

"Can't give me a better guide." The door gave a large dent as another blow came and was about to give in. Callie laughed a hollow laugh at Sarah's joke.

"Sorry, you can ask someone else for a better lesson." Callie had to smile. The door got another dent in the wood and the dress was pushed forward by a few inches.

"I will. _When _we get through this." Sarah stated with a side glance. The little girl was still shaking and sweating. Her hands were steady but would flinch.

"You know it." Callie was never was optimistic. One or both of them could die. But she would support her. It may be her last moment. At least she will try to go down fighting instead of crying.

Finally, the wooden door had given way and the Agile came through. The two females at the end let their guns roar. Shots missed and shots hit the head as the Agile started to pile inside. The two didn't let up. Callie made quick and accurate shots as best as she could and put down the Agile easily. Sarah was missing, but would hit a Soulless in the head with a lucky shot. More came. Callie quickly reloaded and started to fire again. More Agile died as the mutations started to pile over the dresser. Some tried to take to the walls or ceiling and were put down easily by Callie. More Agile came and they were put down. Callie noticed that Sarah had finished her first clip and was having trouble loaded the other.

Callie took the gun from the girl and handed her own loaded one. Callie took the magazine out and turned it around and put it back in. She continued her fire and Sarah joined her. The two put the Agile down quickly. The bodies started to pile and pile and pile, the Agile fell over their once attacking comrades and became easier targets for the duo. A minute past and Callie was on her last clip and shot another bullet and put down the an Agile. One more Agile was left and Callie made to finish it and heard a click. She was empty!

"Shit!" Callie said as the Agile started to run against the wall and pounced until it died with a shot to the head from the little girl to her left. The Agile's brain matter came out and onto the floor and it flew from the second floor to the bottom floor. Callie looked and saw the pile of bodies. Nothing was twitching or moving, everything was dead. The gunshots downstairs were still going on. Then they ended slowly ended.

It was dead silent. Nothing moved or made a sound. Nothing. The silence was scary to the two, to everyone in the cabin. Was there more? Were the Soulless all dead? Was the assault on the their home over?

**Ed and Techlin were back** to back and breathed heavily. Both were covered in blood from head to toe. Their weapons drenched in the life essence. Dozens of bodies surrounded them. Either cut, stabbed, shot, or bashed. No more Soulless were moving in. The two continued to breath, seeming to had ran three triathlons one after the other. Without a single hint, Ed turned and held his shield and baton out towards Techlin who turn and saw Ed's actions to be confusing.

"Are you bit?" Ed asked in a steady voice and sweat running down his face.. All the blood covering the boy was enough to possibly hide a bite mark.

"No!" Techlin rejected immediately.

"Are you sure? Techlin, I swear to any god listening that I will kill you where you stand if-"

"I am NOT BITTEN! I would off myself if I was!" Techlin was screamed outraged and held his spear out in order to defend himself.

The two stared each other down. Both tired. Both ready to kill the other. Both for protecting. The two gave each other heated glances and Techlin shook his head. Still saying he was not bit. Ed was skeptical. Techlin was new but he was still human. Humans lie to preserve themselves even when damnation is just an hour away. He saw it before.

"I promise you Ed, I will kill myself if I was bitten. I will not endanger this group. I would not want to be one of them," Techlin nodded to the bodies around them. "I want to die by means of myself or by age. I will never be one because I will not allow myself to kill others so soullessly like the Soulless. I promise." Techlin put his spear down but Ed kept his guard up. Looking for deceit in the eyes of his possible enemy. He saw none. The Sentinel relaxed.

"Okay, I had to make sure." Ed explained to him. Techlin nodded in understanding. He would do it to if he saw someone covered in blood like himself.

"Are you bit anywhere?" Techlin asked and Ed shook his head with a light chuckle.

"This armor can take a beating, trust me, no Soulless could beat through." Ed showed him the many bite marks and only saw dents and no penetration.

"Nice." Techlin said. The two warriors left the kitchen. They joined everyone else in the living room. They were all gathered there and Johnny was adding bandages to Eddy's arm, this time no blood was coming out.

"I stop the bleeding. He lost a lot of blood." Johnny sounded tired. They all were. Being awoken so abruptly like they were was tiring.

"At least it is over." Kevin said.

"How the hell did it start?" Nazz wondered.

"We can figure that out later. We need to get these bodies out before they start to stank up the place." Eddward Silver said. None of them wanted to do it. Then again, none of them wanted to survive to the next day and they still did.

"**How many so far?"** Edd asked. On the left of the cabin was a mass grave, Ed, Edd, Rolf, Techlin, and Dante had worked three hours to dig it. Inside the big hole was the Soulless that had attacked them. The Leader was talking to the Sentinel as they rested. Dante and Kevin moved another body from the home and threw it in the growing pile.

"So far, eighty, almost done though." Ed stated grimly. He was out of his armor and in a blue shirt and pants.

"So far? How many attacked us?" Edd recalled many of them. How they piled outside his room and nearly got through. There were a lot that he killed with his family blade.

"I guess over a hundred. Luckily, our defenses were strong enough to hold them out and keep us in. Giving us the advantage to kill way more Soulless and to suffer no casualties." Ed summarized. If they weren't as secure as they were then things would be a lot worse for them.

Edd had to let that absorb. It was unbelievable. None has never faced that amount. Usually, they were to avoid a huge horde, find a way around them, wait them out, or go back to the cabin and wait the next day for them to pass. Not this time, they couldn't avoid them, they could wait them out, they couldn't go to the cabin for safety as the enemy was at the cabin. The day was cloudy and the clouds a light gray. There was still a winter touch in the air and made the two Eds give a chilled sigh. Winter was coming early. They could feel it. Dante and Kevin came with three bodies, struggled a bit, and tossed them into the pile.

Digging the hole, laying out the excessive amounts of plastic they had in storage to protect the soil from possible contamination, and throwing the bodies, they had worked a good five hours and noon was closing in. The fighting had lasted for thirty minutes, or around that time. It felt like an eternity to the two, one stabbed the heads and the other bash the heads of a seemingly endless horde. They got up and started to assist the Mechanic and Hunter.

"**Is he still alive?"** Sarah asked Johnny who was tending to Eddy in his room. Eddy was in the bed and was pale. He was still unconscious and he was breathing slowly as if in a deep sleep. Johnny looked tired as he threw bloody bandages away into the pile of other bloody bandages in a small. Eddy's arm was showing. The scars were four claw like gashes the went from his shoulder to elbow and were nasty looking. Some blood still seeped from the sides.

"He's going to live. Just lost a lot of blood. Four gashes in the left arm that are a three centimeters deep and four centimeters wide." Johnny got a fresh batch of bandages and started to wrap it around the wound. Eddy twitched, jerked, and groaned loudly at the sudden contact and pain that sprouted. It lasted for a few minutes before he stopped and the bandages were wrapped around the wound again. Another hour would pass before he had to replace it again. The amount of blood lost was a lot, especially with Eddy's small body. Sarah held the Marksman

"His arm looks nasty." Sarah commented. Johnny chuckled at the girl. He felt so much older now.

"Yeah it is." Johnny yawned. "Listen Sarah, remember when Kevin got that big gash across his arm?" Sarah nodded.

"You remember how you wrapped the bandages around his arm?" Another nod.

"Can you do this for me but with Eddy, in the next hour come and change it. I need to get some rest." From the adrenaline in him that he had as he tried to stop Eddy's bleeding arm had done a monster on his energy. It made him all the more tired. He was never a morning person and the others respected it. He was the Doctor of the group and they saw him to at least get more rest than them.

"Sure." Sarah answered with a small smile. Johnny returned with his own tired smile. The young man thanked Sarah and went to his room for rest. Kevin had left his watch with Johnny, who left it on Eddy's dresser. Sarah checked the time, eleven: forty-three. The young girl went to her room and grabbed her book and took the seat that Johnny sat in next to the bed. She continue from where she left off.

**Ed and Double D threw the **final three bodies of the Soulless into the pit. After working for half an hour, they had finally finished dumping the bodies. Now they had to burn the bodies. In normal circumstances, after an attack, which was rare, they would burn the bodies in a fire. But due to the large scale of the attack, the group had to do a massive burning such as this one. Ed fetched the gas they had siphoned from cars and started to sprinkle it around the bodies. After getting them all, Kevin lit a match and threw it in. The fire was small and soon it caught to the flammable liquid and a blaze erupted. The ones outside covered their noses from the horrible smell. The sound of crackling was heard and the bones started to break. A large column of black smoke rose into the sky. The pit was deep enough that the fire was not higher than the edges of the hole.

"Man, this smell is worse than last time!" Ed said with his voice muffled by his shirt.

"I have to agree. Lets head inside." Eddward suggested and the other three followed. Once inside, the four were able to breath normally.

Nazz was on the couch, tired. The young woman had volunteered, with some help from Sarah and Techlin before he left with Callie and Rolf, to clean the blood from the assault and was finally finished scrubbing it out and ridding the home of the smell.

"You guys done?" Nazz asked. Her eyes were half open and she yawned. The abrupt awakening had a drain on most of them. Some of them woke early, but the time it was done was too early. The only one not affected was Ed, who made a habit of awakening to check on the traps and reset them for the day.

"Yep, bodies are burning. Need some sleep." Kevin relaxed on the recliner. Dante joined them.

"I thought this place was safe." Dante said with arms crossed. He gave a glance to the Leader and remembered his words the day before. Edd returned it with a sigh.

"It is. Or was. I assure you. We are secure. It is rare for a horde to attack us, especially one of that mass. We haven't suffered an attack in years." That really bothered the Leader. Why now? Was Eddy really right about the bad luck of bringing survivors? Edd hoped not. Dante didn't look so assured.

"Ed have you checked your traps?" Kevin asked realizing Ed has been here since the attack and haven't left. Double D had sat down next to Nazz.

"No, probably all caught up with the Soulless that took the brunt of the traps. I am going to head out in a few minutes. Need to suit up." Ed informed and left the group for his room.

"I hope those three are okay." Nazz said after a few moments of silence. The three she was talking about were Rolf, Callie, and Tehclin. They went foraging and Techlin was there for protection.

"They are fine. Techlin is strong." Dante vouched for the teen. He barely knew him, but he was a good fighter.

"I still can't get over how your group functioned. Where did you all stay?" Double D asked.

Dante answered. "Some small office building. On the South end of San Fran. Getting through the city was hell."

"Now that you mention your city, we haven't really been to our own. We've gone as far as the market place that is not far from the neighborhood we found you guys in." Nazz said.

"What was your population before the outbreak?" Dante asked. San Francisco at the time was close to eight hundred thousand and densely populated.

"Damn, I say around a few million." Double D could not exactly remember that snippet. Been more than three years that he had checked the population. But he did recall being in the millions. He never understood why they had such as high population.

"Then it must be even worse in there. I say we stay away from that area." Dante knew that he was probably being redundant, but it had to be said.

"We might as well. Winter is good enough here. Heading up North would just make it worse." Kevin said. The Hunter soon drifted to sleep. Ed came in his damaged armor and headed out the door. The Chef could only follow into the land of the sleep. Edd did too. Dante stayed up, still shaken by the ambush and not wanting to sleep in case it happened once again.

**Ed looked at the sight** before him as he saw his traps. Ed had spent the better half of the first year of the outbreak learning how to set traps by a survival book he had found on a scavenge run. It held detailed traps from hunting to incapacitation and a small story. The man was Vietnam War veteran and was in charge of studying traps in order to avoid death and made detailed sketches of the traps and of how they looked, function, and materials it was made out of. One of their many lucky finds.

The traps he had set up were simple. There was spike pits that were covered in leaves, regular pits for him to pick out his test subjects, log ram trap, a trap he called chomper and when triggered will slam down on the unfortunate target with scraps of sharp metal on the wood, arrows shooter that took some time to build but would launch three arrows at once and there were many of them, then there were the trip lines that had pots, pans, and cans stung that would shake the entire line around the perimeter alerting them that there was trouble. More traps were laid about that would catch and suspend the Soulless into the air upside down. Then there were the blunt chomper that had heavier wood and a stronger slam.

Ed was staring at his traps and a thought crossed his mind._ "Why are there no bodies?" _Ed was staring at his traps. Staring at traps that were already activated. Arrows fired, pits had boards of wood over them, the log of the log ram was dangling from one string while the other end was to the ground, the trip line was cut, the chomper chomped down on the dirt, the rope traps to suspend the Soulless were in the air but with no body, the blunt chomper was deep in the ground only. Everything was activated. But there was no bodies. Then he looked closer, they were all broken, someone came and vandalized his traps.

"What the hell is going on?" Ed asked no one in particular. He searched all of his traps in a haste seeing that the traps were activated, more and more of the designs he made to keep them safe were all destroyed. All of it destroyed. Ed was growing hysterical as he finished his run around the perimeter.

"We are compromised. Everything is down. I must tell the others." Ed said in a low whisper. He quickly ran back to the cabin and rushed into the door with a loud slam. Everyone awoke, except Dante who was wide awake, and become on guard. They were surprised to see a panting Ed with a crazed look in his eyes.

"Ed, what's the big deal!?" Kevin shouted.

"You okay, Ed? We saw you running from where we were?" Callie asked as she, Rolf, and Techlin came inside. Rolf and Techlin had bags on their backs and were full of berries, fruit, and vegetables they had found. Callie and Techlin, like Dante, were also shaken up by the assault on the cabin.

"Guys...we have trouble. A lot of trouble." Ed said. They all gained a confused look in their faces.

Ed went on to explain. "The traps, the reason why there was so many Soulless earlier was because my traps were not activated. Not when they came at least. Their were wooden boards over the pits and all my traps were activated. The trip line was cut. All of my traps were activated then destroyed."

"What!? How!?" Double D asked.

"I don't know, I don't see why, but someone sabotaged the traps. There were no bodies, nothing to indicate that it was them, someone came and let those damn things in here. Right now, we are not safe! We are wide open for any attack and we won't have anything to help defend us!" Ed spoke and the situation sunk into the group. They were compromised fully, their sense of safety vanished in a near instant. Someone was to blame, but who?

**So there it is. The Assualt Chapter. I wanted to give you guys some good action since well, there hasn't been that much action in the past chapters. But here it is. Now, who did it? I decided to do this by inspiration of the Walking Dead Season 3 or 4, don't remember when someone was leaving rats outside of the Prison and that attracted the dead. There is more to it though, there will be someone to blame, but who? Tell me in your reviews. Who do you think sabotaged the traps, who would do something so crazy as to get them nearly killed? **

**So with that I leave you my fellow Revolutionaries, until next time, stay safe, keep reading, keep thinking, and think of things that you think are real as they may just be as false. **

**NEXT CHAPTER!:**

**Chapter 6: Sabotage and Blood.**


	6. Sabotage and Blood

**My fellow Revolutionaries, welcome! READ WHAT IS UNDER THIS!**

**Hey guys, Revolutionary here and glad to be back for chapter 6 of the Outbreak Chronicles. Now, I want to talk to you guys about the show. Lately, I have been really sad about Ed, Edd n' Eddy. For various reasons, with one being that it is over and this is common because I grew up watching this show. I was born in 1998 and Ed, Edd n' Eddy started in 1999, I was one of those kids that had a hard time sitting down but when Ed, Edd n' Eddy would come on, I would just watch, even at one years old, I just sat and watch the three. I love Ed, Edd n' Eddy. It is just an amazing show and I feel that the generations that are now coming are missing out on something like this. So, I am asking you, the reader, to spread Ed, Edd n' Eddy. I know some of you are older and might now some kids who want to watch cartoons, show them this show. Show them. Please, I want this show to keep going strong, there are seasons of episodes on Youtube that they can watch, plus the movie as well. Spread this show, I don't want it to die out.**

**It is also struggle. This something I realized midway through my first story of World of the Dead, the fanfiction for Ed, Edd n' Eddy is dying. I mean just not that many people are aware of this show or this website. Tell them of tell them of Ed, Edd n' Eddy because I don't want this to happen. I feel somewhat sad because I might not be able to deal with this, where I will just give up on Ed, Edd n' Eddy and do something else. I don't want that. So please guys, spread Ed, Edd n' Eddy, try to make it popular again, do what you can, I don't want this show to die out. Not yet. Not for a long time. **

**And also guys, please stop this Kevin and Edd fanfictions, please, it is now worn out. There are too many in my opinion, I mean you have the right to keep going, but listen, at first glance, others would take to this Fanfiction archive to be nothing but KevEdd fanfiction,.We need more diversity, branch out, please, it is good that you like them. But don't overdue this anymore than it already is, do a different pairing or something, make an adventure story or horror or mystery or crime. Branch out, that will attract more people because not everyone reads slash fanfiction. I just have to say that.**

**Now on with the chapter.**

**Chapter 6: Sabotage and Blood**

"**Ed, are you sure that** it was sabotage?" Double D asked. The entire situation seeming to be unreal to him. The question was still in his head. It was in all of their minds. Who would try to kill them? Eyes turned to each other. The Leader can see fingers being pointed.

Ed nodded gravely with the situation making him come to the same conclusion as his friend. "I am sure. The evidence of no Soulless being captured and the wood planks over the pits shows that someone drew them here. How? I do not now."

"This makes no sense," Kevin said. He was looking down in thought. "what did we do?"

"Survival," Techlin stated. Everyone looked towards him to explain further. "it's basic sense. Obviously, you guys have a good set up here. If I was a survivor and I saw this, I would want it."

"How the hell did any survivors find us?" Nazz asked. They all thought it to be weird. The cabin was located about seven miles away from the neighborhoods. Survivors would have to go through a lot to reach them.

"Don't know." Techlin answered.

"Even so, they could have asked Rolf and his friends for refuge here." Rolf said. The cabin was by no means small, anyone watching them could see that.

"Maybe others aren't keen to sharing." Callie said. It was survival, the more you have for yourself, the better you would be.

"Do you guys have anyone is your group that would do something like this?" Callie questioned. She earned a few glares.

"No, none of us here would do something like that! Unlike your previous group, we known each other for years before this shit storm happened. Not one of us have a motive for sabotage." The Leader stated, offended and a little mad that she would suggest anyone in his group would do that. Johnny came in when Eddward began, having been awoken by the sound of Ed barging through and yelling. He came to the living room and was quickly informed of the situation.

"Yeah, Double D is right," Johnny started. "none of us here would do something like that. I mean, we have it pretty good here so why put that and our lives on risk?"

Nazz then said. "And you guys barely know us, so you can't really say that."

"That's exactly why she asked. We don't know any of you. One of you could be bat shit crazy and want us all to die." Techlin said. The tension that was in the air was starting to get thicker.

"Hey, these two barely know anything about you! You could want us all to die." Kevin said.

"Why would I do that? I have no reason to kill any of you." Techlin stated.

"We don't know that for sure." Surprisingly, Dante was the one who said it. Techlin gained a look of betrayal.

"See, even Dante says he doesn't know you. It could have been you." Rolf added. Eyes were turning to Techlin, accusing stares. Dante looked down to his hands in his weapon in his lap. The look in Techlin's eyes made him do so.

Dante spoke quickly and quietly a second after Rolf's words."Hey, hey, I don't know any of you. As far as I am concerned, everyone here is a suspect."

"Yeah, so don't pointing fingers at me. I have no reason to sabotage." Techlin defended himself.

"And yet again, we don't know that for sure." Ed Green stated after listening to them all argue.

"I can't believe this. I bet it was that Eddy guy." Two glaring eyes of the teen's best friend shot him a dirty look.

"Eddy would never do something like that." Eddward Silver said, standing up and looked ready to punch Techlin. Techlin stood his ground.

"How can he not," Callie stepped in. "wasn't he the only one outside during last night? And you guys said that he is fast. He could have probably done it without any of us knowing and since he lives here, he would know where all the traps are. In addition, you guys said it was highly unlikely that any survivor would come here because of how far away it is from the neighborhood. It was hard getting here last night and this obviously was a night job because the traps were still set up when we arrived."

That to the group made them all stop. It was true. The idea of any outsider coming to the cabin was unlikely. Then there were the traps. They wouldn't know where it was and probably get killed or caught by them. Only way anyone would be able to sabotage them up is if they knew where they were exactly. Everyone in the group knew where they were as to avoid getting killed by them on their way back from scavenges.

"_It's true,"_ Edd thought,_ "the traps were indeed up and running when we arrived. Johnny, Eddy, and I saw that. Eddy was definitely the only one outside and he is fast and silent."_ Edd stopped his train of thought. Shocked that he would think of blaming his best friend for something he didn't do.

"You bitch!" A voice shouted and everyone turned to see an enraged pale Eddy and a worried Sarah behind him. His arm was still bandaged and he used the wall to support himself, his legs were shaking.

"Eddy, you shouldn't be moving!" Johnny said. The wound was opening back up as the bandages gained a red tint.

"Shut it!" Eddy said with his fury evident. The glare went from Johnny to Callie.

"How dare you accuse me of something like that!? I bet it was one of you three!" Eddy turned to Double D. "I told you, didn't I? Whenever we bring in new people, something bad happens and look what happened Double D! We should have left them at that spot and let them die off somewhere else!"

"Eddy, lay off her, I accused you, not her!" Techlin defended his friend, or so he hoped. The small act of betrayal from Dante still in his head.

"Then you both are bitches! I know it was one of you! One of you damn three! But you know what, I bet it was you, you damn asshole." Eddy moved on wobbly feet to Techlin. "I mean, look at you! Last night, you guys told us you guys barely knew each other! The guy who blames an obvious suspect is smart enough to do the damn crime himself!"

"I would never do something like that! Why would I endanger everyone here? I have no where else to go!" Techlin defended. He hated being blamed for something he had no part in. Everyone was looking to him and some of them made side comments that he heard, all of them saying that he probably did it. None of them butted in the conversation or wanted to, Eddy would only yell at them and they enjoyed not being on the receiving end of it.

"I bet my ass you did it! There was a group of people shooting hours before we met you three! You could have been part of that group. Lied through your fucking teeth about being on travel and starving!" Eddy said. It clicked to Johnny and Eddward. There was a group of people shooting and they did meet them hours after. Eddy's bandage was now soaked and dripping and Eddy saw his sight becoming blurry.

"I didn't you fucker! Damn it! I should beat your midget ass!" Techlin shouted. That was the last straw and fists were about to fly until a gunshot stopped everything. The one holding the gun was Ed, smoke coming from the barrel of his shotgun and pointed to the ceiling. Some wood crumbled to the ground. Everyone was silent and stared to Ed who had got what he wanted, their attention.

"We cannot argue about this like we are now! Eddy, you are losing blood, Johnny take him back in the room and keep him there!" Ed's voice was like Eddward's. Authority. Johnny did so and Eddy was about to argue until he caught Ed's and Double D's eyes that said he better leave or they will do it for him. They both left with Eddy stumbling back into room. Sarah followed.

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down. The situation is bad, we know, but right now, lets focus on getting our defenses back up. We need to get ready just in case these people come back. I don't know who did it and I don't want to blame anyone here. Obviously, blaming each other will only cause us to go in circles and never get to the bottom of it. We are all still tired and shaken up from earlier." Ed was like a second-in-command, able to give out orders and show he means business.

"Techlin," The said teen looked to Ed. "please don't lie to me. Did you have anything to do with this?"

"No, I didn't. I have nothing in this world left for me. I have been through hell, we three have been through hell. You guys have offered us sancturary from a world where we cannot rest as we did last night, even if earlier things were shit. Dante, Callie, and me would never want to threaten something that makes us feel safe. None of us three did it or will any of us ever do so." Techlin stated. He didn't want to lose this sense of safety. Sure, this morning was a complete contradiction to his words. But last night, he slept, actually slept peacefully and was not in need of keeping one eye open. He wanted more nights like that and this place was something he counted on to give him more of those nights.

"Okay, I am not saying we believe you." A cross of hurt came to his features and Ed added quickly. "But I am willing to give you a chance. As is everyone here, we are all suspects, even myself. But it doesn't matter, we get our defenses back up and then we can settle this like civilized human beings. Is that clear, everyone?" Nods were given from all present.

"In addition, keep an eye out. I am open to the possibility that survivors could have spotted us and want us dead for our stuff." Ed had to believe that snippet too. Many things they thought weren't possible was happening to them.

The Leader decided it was his turn to come in. "We can have two groups of two to patrol the perimeter and the rest to fix up the traps. The thought of other survivors coming to kill us is something we all need to keep in mind. We may all be suspects, but look out for those who may be watching us. We don't know who or what is out there. And with the fact that Eddy, our best look out or should be our best look out, wasn't able to detect them means these guys, if there is really a threat of other survivors, are good and could catch any of us off guard."

"I will be one of the patrols." Techlin offered.

"Kevin, you go with him. Nazz and me will be the other patrol. The rest of you help Ed." Eddward ordered and everyone started to get their weapons. The tension was still in the air and thick as steel. Eddward Silver and Edward Green were now alone.

"This is bad Double D, really really bad." Ed was now full of worry.

"I know, Ed. Everyone just needs to cool down. Come on, more work needs to be done." Double D said. Ed followed his best friend outside. Everyone soon came out as well. They went to work.

**Haggard breathing was heard** and through blurry vision someone watched the group outside the cabin scatter. Watched from the bushes, the eyes of a crazed man. He breathed heavily, breathed so hard it was as if his lungs were to explode. He looked around with darting eyes as the group scattered and one was heading towards him. The man ran at the sight. Ran with information. Ran for his own survival.

**Okay, this was extra short. I really didn't want this part to be that long because I wanted it to focus more on the characters and not everything else. The next chapter would be coming out soon. So keep an out for that. Again guys, I want you all to branch out, to spread the word about the show and Fanfiction. So with that I leave you all, my fellow Revolutionaries, stay safe out there.**

**Next Chapter: **

**Chapter 7: The Others**


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